


A Matter of Time

by bookscape



Category: Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Zorro (TV 1957)
Genre: Gen, Mr. Pem, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-08
Updated: 2019-07-08
Packaged: 2020-06-24 13:09:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 49,588
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19724311
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bookscape/pseuds/bookscape
Summary: A Zorro/Voyage crossover. Pem gets his ultimate revenge when he sends Crane back in time. Nelson and the crew have to figure out where Crane is and how to go back and rescue him.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Zorro helps a young American captain escape the clutches of a sadistic comandante, only to find that the man was sent back in time by a powerful enemy.

**Two very different worlds clash when a maniacal scientist devises the ultimate revenge on his enemies.**

**Zorro lay flat on the rooftop of the comandante’s quarters, watching as the lone guard patrolled inside the cuartel.The night was still, nothing to mask any sounds, so the crunching tread of the soldier’s footsteps sounded almost like musket ball shots.That would make it doubly hard to get the prisoner out of his cell.A door creaked below him and Zorro almost stopped breathing.Capitán Miguel Rico Hernandez Ruiz, current comandante of the Pueblo de Los Angeles was up rather late tonight.Did he sense something?Sometimes Zorro wondered if it could be so.His own senses seemed to have become sharper over the past few years, but this new man?He mentally shrugged and continued his surveillance.** ****

**Zorro watched as Capitán Ruiz sauntered down the steps, across the parade ground and gazed into the jail cells.Several were occupied as the comandante prided himself on his efficiency in keeping law and order, but it was in front of one particular cell that he lingered.It was the cell of the mysterious Americano.**

**“You will tell me your government’s plans, señor.You will tell me everything I want to know.”** ****

**Zorro could see that the prisoner was awake.The man sat calmly on his cot, but he said nothing.He only watched his tormentor, the man who had whipped him the past two days out in the parade ground of the cuartel, the second day more severely than the first.And in the eyes that reflected in the moonlight, Zorro saw something of the predator.This man had been beaten and may be physically bent, but he was far from broken.**

**The masked man smiled and continued to wait.When Ruiz got no response, he laughed nervously.“Tomorrow, Señor Americano.Tomorrow it will be double the strokes, unless you tell me what I want to know.”Still there was no response.Ruiz slapped his thigh, muttered something to the guard and strode back to his quarters.He shut the door behind him with enough force to sound like a cannon firing.Zorro watched the guard pace back and forth in ever-shorter circles, finally stopping altogether when the soldier noticed a light go out in the comandante’s quarters.The night watch in the plaza called out the one o’clock.The guard leaned against the wall between two cells and watched.Soon his head began to nod and his breathing deepened until soft snores drifted across the cuartel to the masked man.** ****

**Zorro realized that he must make his move quickly before the changing of the guards.He noted that the other prisoners appeared to be asleep, curled up in their flimsy, moth-eaten blankets, but the Americano was still awake, his eyes reflecting the three-quarter moon.Probably the pain of the whippings keeping him awake.Or it could be something else, some internal watch system that kept him alert.The prisoner silently got up and approached the bars of his cell.His steps seemed almost cat-like and Zorro watched in interest.This man intrigued him, even as the American mountain man had intrigued him.However, this man seemed a quiet threat in a way that Señor Joe Crane could never be.The prisoner appeared to be studying the guard, at the same time his fingers feeling the lock of the cell.He reached toward the guard, whether for the musket or keys, Zorro couldn’t tell.**

**Zorro decided that now was the time to act.In spite of his worry over Ruiz’s almost uncanny wariness, notwithstanding his own feeling of something not quite right, Zorro could wait no longer.And the man in the cell, despite his seeming alertness, would not last many more days.When the Americano had been dragged in from the hills four days ago behind a soldier’s horse, there had been little public fanfare.Ruiz had seemed content to harass and bully the man in the privacy of the cuartel.From his own investigation and that of his servant, Bernardo, it appeared that the comandante thought this Americano to be some sort of foreign spy; a military man of some importance.Or at the very least, someone who had information that could be important.Zorro had caught a glimpse of the Americano when he had accompanied his father to visit the capitán. Father, as the newly appointed acalde of the pueblo had felt it his duty to inquire about the prisoner and the nature of his crime.Worried about the tempers of both men, Zorro had found an excuse to accompany his father on the trip.Despite Ruiz’s claims, and several official-looking pins that had been on the prisoner’s collar, there seemed to be nothing that had denoted any kind of relationship with an American military organization, or any other military for that matter.The prisoner’s clothes were too plain; a simple tan.There was no braid, no shiny buttons, no medals, and no plumed headgear.Apparently, there had not even been any weapons on the man.There were just the pins and a seemingly broken timepiece.**

**In the dark shadows cast by one of the buildings, Zorro slipped from the roof, landing almost silently on the dusty ground.The prisoner noticed, though, and gazed intently at him.Zorro made motions, indicating his intent and the Americano nodded.Then he gestured back desperately and Zorro whirled around.Another soldier had slunk out of hiding in the shadows, blade exposed.**

**As quietly as he could, the masked man pushed it aside with his own sword and grabbed the man’s arm, drawing the lancer close enough to hit him on the side of the head with the fist holding his sword.It was all done in an instant and the soldier, a new corporal, had only had time to look surprised before he slumped to the ground, unconscious.**

**Zorro heard a very harshly muttered curse from the cell and the movement of the regular guard.He pivoted and saw the prisoner holding the attention of the regular guard, making gestures that Zorro didn’t understand, but which he clearly recognized as being unflattering.With a soft growl, the soldier rushed toward the cell, musket extended.Without hesitation, Zorro leaped after him.The guard prodded the end of the weapon at the prisoner’s middle, but the Americano was ready.He jumped back a step and then reached for the barrel, grasping it tightly with both hands and jerking it down.Zorro laid the hilt of his sword across the back of the guard’s head and caught him as he fell backward.**

**The Americano still held the musket, but quietly passed it through the bars as Zorro straightened up.With a grin, the masked man took the weapon, laid it down next to the unconscious man and then extricated the keys from the guard’s belt.He approached the cell door.Still the prisoner said nothing, only leaning wearily against the bars, watching.Zorro heard the lock click and he gently opened the door just enough for the prisoner to slip out.The door didn’t have to be opened far, but even so, the grinding squeak seemed explosively loud.A horse whinnied and Zorro grabbed the prisoner’s arm, motioning toward the stable.With a nod, the Americano ran in the direction indicated.Another horse whinnied, snorted and shuffled in his stall.Zorro noted a new light in the comandante’s office and motioned his companion to greater speed.The capitán’s door opened as Zorro motioned to the roof.Without hesitation, the Americano climbed a crate and pulled himself onto the tile roof with an agility that told Zorro that this man had done this sort of thing before.Zorro quickly followed, even as Ruiz shouted for help.Shouts came from the barracks and Zorro heard lancers clattering from their barracks.Sergeant Garcia bellowed like a bull for the men to come to arms.**

**Zorro rushed toward the cuartel wall, motioning the Americano after him.A pistol shot further shattered the previous stillness, but Zorro didn’t hesitate.He knew the exact distance to the ground.Grabbing the edge of the wall, he swung down, landing easily, knees slightly bent at the end of the twenty-foot drop.The Americano couldn’t have known the exact distance, but still he followed Zorro and landed next to him, the only sound a soft hiss of pain.**

**A sharp whistle brought an immediate sound of hoof beats and within seconds the large dark shape of Tornado loomed before him.“Bravo, my friend!” Zorro whispered.He vaulted on the dark stallion and reached a hand down to help his companion.With only slight hesitation, the man grabbed his hand and allowed himself to be helped up behind the masked man.The noise behind them indicated that the lancers were readying their mounts.There was not much time.“Tornado, your fastest,” he urged his mount.“Hold tightly,” he ordered his passenger, who only barely wrapped his arms around Zorro’s torso before the stallion leaped forward.They raced through the streets and out into the hills as lancers began pouring from the cuartel led by Capitán Ruiz.Dogs barked a chorus as horses thundered down the dusty streets.**

**Tornado quickly gained more and more distance as he galloped through the night, his familiarity with the various roads, trails and paths lending extra speed to his flight.The Americano’s grip felt as though it was relaxing slightly and Zorro hissed in English, “Keep a tight hold!The trail is rough!”** ****

**The American mumbled something but tightened his grip.It was then that Zorro noticed how hot the escapee felt against his back.It was the heat of fever.They would have to hide soon.He urged Tornado to more speed as they drew further and further from the pueblo.They galloped down the narrow beach of a rocky shore just out of reach of the pounding waves, and the Americano stirred slightly.“Hard left rudder,” he muttered in English.“Ahead two thirds.”** ****

**Then they were back among the brush and scrub, slowing slightly as the trail narrowed and twisted.Tornado was surefooted among the rocks but Zorro slowed the stallion even more.He would only need to slip once to seriously hurt himself.The moon traveled inexorably toward the ocean, a sight that Zorro welcomed whole-heartedly.He turned toward the hacienda.Originally, the masked man had planned on leaving the Americano with the priest who would have the means of sending the prisoner out of the area and eventually back to his home, but the illness changed everything for the time being.The first night the Americano would stay in the secret cave and then perhaps the curandera….** ****

**“Where are we going?” his companion asked softly, close to his ear.He sounded a bit more lucid.The Spanish, though halting, was easily understood.**

**“To a secret place,” Zorro replied simply.**

**“Will the comandante be able to follow?Will that put you in danger?”** ****

**Zorro laughed.“He hasn’t been able to follow me yet, and danger?There is much danger these days and not all of it comes from thwarting the comandante.”** ****

**The Americano fell silent for a few minutes.“Thank you,” he finally said, before falling silent once more.**

**Zorro stopped and listened a quarter mile from the secret cave.He could hear and see nothing but the slight moaning of the wind through the few trees that grew near the top of the hill.“Only a short distance farther my friend, and then you can rest,” he reassured the Americano, who only murmured an unintelligible reply.**

**Within minutes, they had clattered into the cave.Zorro reached around to help the prisoner to the ground, but his companion slid off the back of the stallion unaided, to stand staggering against one wall.Dismounting, Zorro led Tornado to his stall and then turned his attention back to the Americano.A small lantern sat in a niche in the wall.It was enough to give some light in the cave, but not so much as to show from the outside.The former prisoner seemed mesmerized by its flickering flame, but then he turned to gaze around the rocky cleft.Water trickled along a tiny stream and the Americano was drawn to it.He stumbled to his knees and began to suck in great mouthfuls.**

**“It is good water, is it not?” Zorro asked, following the man and sitting next to him.He now had the opportunity to learn more about the man he had rescued, at least while he remained lucid.**

**“Right now, it could be ballast and it would be good,” the man answered emphatically.**

**Zorro knew that sometimes bilge water was used for ballast and he shuddered.It would seem that this man was part of the American Navy.He studied his dirty and ragged clothes and saw that they were somewhat uniform-like, but not anything he was even remotely familiar with.**

**Sated, the Americano washed his face and hands in the cold water, shivering visibly.Then he studied Zorro in the dim light, his fever-bright eyes large in the gaunt face.“I want to thank you again, Señor Zorro,” he said.**

**Zorro nodded.“So you know me.”** ****

**The American grinned softly.“I do now, although I thought you were only a myth before.”He swiped a tattered sleeve across his mouth and then bit his lip.He spoke in English now, as though it was too hard to think in Spanish.“I don’t feel so hot.‘Fraid I’m a liability to you.”** ****

**Zorro, who knew English quite well from the course of his adventures, still didn’t understand everything, but got the gist of what the man was saying.“You can rest here and I will get you something for your fever,” he replied in English as well.“Did Ruiz do anything else to you beside the whippings?”** ****

**A chuckle became a bit off moan of pain.“Just dragged me behind a horse.Oh, and shot me, that’s all.”** ****

**In alarm, Zorro looked where the man was pointing and saw the bloodstain spreading across his upper left leg.He rushed to a small chest near the steps and opened it.Inside were some bandages.He pulled out enough to clean and bind the wound and went back to where the Americano was sitting. Right now, it appeared that the wall was the only thing keeping the wounded man from falling over.He leaned his head against the cool rock and sighed.“Guess I didn’t move fast enough.Didn’t either time….”** ****

**“Just sit still and let me see how bad it is,” Zorro said tersely.**

**“Think the bullet just grazed it, but it hurts like hell.”** ****

**Ripping the bloodstained material of his trousers proved easy.Then Zorro dipped a cloth into the tiny stream and began to clean the wound.The American shuddered, then bit off a moan, but kept relatively still.It was pretty much as the injured man had guessed.The ball had gouged along the outside of his left leg.Silently, Zorro thanked this man’s patron saint, whoever he or she was, as well as his own that it wasn’t worse.He finished cleaning the wound and then bound it up tightly enough to cut off the bleeding.Bernardo could more properly clean and re-bandage the leg later.**

**When he had finished, the American gazed intently into his eyes.Zorro could tell that there was little stamina left.He seemed to be staying conscious by force of will alone.“Mmm, Don Diego, um, I, uh….”Then he fell forward into Zorro’s arms.**

**The masked man was so startled he almost dropped the Americano.How could he know? Where would this American have found out his secret?This changed everything.Zorro had to keep the injured man here, he had to find out how much he knew, just what he knew and if anyone else knew his secrets.A small sound came from behind him.It was Bernardo.**

**The mute mozo stepped to his side and signed.It was almost too fast to follow, but Zorro thought he knew anyway.“You heard him then?”** ****

**Bernardo nodded vigorously and then made another sign.**

**“I do not know how he knew.He is feverish and he may have mistook me for another.”Zorro paused, not really believing his own theory.“I will continue to care for him as Zorro in case that is what happened.”**

**Bernardo sighed and then motioned that he would get the needed medicines and bandages.**

**“Yes, do that and you are right.Here is a mystery of extraordinary dimensions.”**

**Almost a day later, the American awakened to find himself lying on his stomach on a pallet on the cave floor.The heat in his back seemed to have been tempered; his leg was more carefully bandaged.He felt the grogginess that accompanied ingestion some kind of sedative and he had a raging thirst.Pushing himself off the ground, ignoring the pain from his injured back, he watched Zorro wringing out a cloth.“Don Diego?” he whispered.**

**Zorro whirled around in an instant.“Why do you call me that?” he asked bluntly, trying to steady his voice to only show curiosity.The American seemed much better for his medicine-induced sleep, although he still looked feverish.**

**Carefully levering himself up into a sitting position, the injured man took a minute to let the dizziness pass.Then he laughed softly, but the laughter died, becoming a moaning sob before it faded into silence.**

**“Are you all right?” Zorro asked in alarm.**

**The amber-brown eyes were filled with despair for a few short seconds before the injured man rubbed his arm across his face, seemingly purging all emotion in the action.“I am fine,” he said in stilted Spanish.“Well, as fine as I can be.”Zorro handed him a mug of water.“Just water?” the American asked, suddenly suspicious.“I know you gave me some kind of medicine.”Halfway through the sentence, his Spanish seemed to fail him.**

**“I speak very good English.It would probably be better to converse in your native language,” Zorro said, still worried, but somehow trusting this displaced stranger.“And yes, just water.”** ****

**“I know several languages fairly well, but my Spanish was only passable until I landed in this situation.I have learned much more of your language in the past week.”He finished the mug and handed it back.“I guess I do owe you some kind of explanation, although I don’t know how I’m going to make it sound like anything other than the ravings of a maniac.”** ****

**“Try me,” Zorro coaxed, his curiosity winning out over his anxiety.“Who are you, first of all?”** ****

**“I am Commander Lee Crane, United States Navy Reserve, captain of the SSRN _Seaview_.”**  
  
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	2. Chapter 2

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**Zorro stared at the American, barely believing his ears. _Crane?Could there be a connection?But that was impossible.Beneath the injuries and illness this was a deliberate, professional military man.And in spite of his seeming youth, this man was a leader._ _And there was absolutely no resemblance._ “Crane, did you say?”** ****

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**“Yes, Lee Benjamin Crane.”The American looked puzzled.“Is there a problem?”** ****

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**“No, except for the fact that the only other American I have known in more than passing was named Crane as well.Do you have any relatives who are mountain men?” Zorro asked.The reaction further puzzled him.The American Naval officer laughed heartily for several minutes.**

**  
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**Finally, he had to bite his lip against a moan as his battered back reminded him of his previous experiences.“I really do owe you an explanation, Señor Zorro.Apparently this previous contact of yours just coincidentally had a similar name.My people came from Armenia, a Near Eastern region. My name is a grossly Americanized version of a name that the record keeper couldn’t pronounce, write or want to deal with.”** ****

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**“Ah, a coincidence indeed.And you are in the American Navy,” Zorro prompted.** ****

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**Again there was a chuckle.It seemed rather hollow, though and Zorro knew there was a back-story included in this as well.“Yes, I guess you could say that.”** ****

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**Zorro thought back to Crane’s first declaration.The masked man wasn’t familiar with anything more than the most famous naval ships of various foreign powers, so this ship _Seaview_ was not familiar to him.But the declaration had been made with much pride.This was a vessel that the American was very proud of serving on. . . and that he missed very much.He wondered . . . but then, Zorro assumed that most of his answers would be included in the explanation that Crane had offered.“I thought from some of your fevered talk that you were.You have a very high rank for one who appears to be fairly young.”** ****

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**Crane smiled.“Thanks.A combination of a great deal of good luck and intense desire.”** ****

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**“And dedication,” Zorro added.**

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**“You’re a fine one to talk,” Crane shot back amiably, thinking of the Zorro mythos that had developed over the years before and during his childhood.“You’ve been doing your daring-do for what, around five years, I would guess?"** ****

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**It was then that the thought crossed Zorro’s mind.Maybe Ruiz, realizing that his prisoner was from a foreign Navy, had just cause in questioning him.On the other hand, all of Zorro’s instincts pointed to the fact that Crane was not here for any militaristic or diabolical reasons.Still….“Why did you call me by the name of Don Diego?”To him right now, that was the number one question on his mind.The rest could come later.** ****

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**Crane sighed.“When I said that where I came from you were considered a myth, I was kind of stretching it.Actually Zorro is considered fiction.”His brow furrowed in thought.“Depending on the version, Zorro is Diego Vega or Diego de la Vega.And in all versions, he, or rather, you, are a wealthy landowner in the guise of a masked bandit trying to relieve oppression.There are various adversaries.I guess you have had several already.There is a servant who is either mute or Indian, again, depending on the version, with the name of Bernardo.”** ****

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**At that, Zorro glanced over the American’s shoulder and met Bernardo’s eyes.The mozo shrugged.All in all, Zorro was flabbergasted.That so much information, with so much of it hitting very close to total accuracy could have reached an American Naval officer as a piece of fiction astounded him.**

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**“I guess the fictional part is pretty much what the first author wanted his readers to believe.Unless of course, Pem managed to figure out alternate universe contact as well as time travel,” the young naval officer said softly, almost to himself.**

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**“Alternate universe?Time?” Zorro asked.“The first words are unknown to me.The second only serves to confuse.Perhaps you had better start from the beginning of your adventure here.”**

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**“Perhaps I had,” Crane said wearily, again swiping his face with his hand.**

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**“Unless it is too much for you at the present time,” Zorro added gently.He was aching to find out the answers to the myriad of questions he had, but would not overexert this man.While the American had slept, he had seen closely the results of the comandante’s interrogations and was amazed at how well the man was doing in spite of the abuse.**

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**Crane smiled.He gazed at the masked man before him, who, up until just a short while ago was considered only a figment of some pulp author’s imagination.There was something about him, however; something that said this Spanish American citizen could be trusted.Lee had to trust someone.“I have to go back a bit further than that or else everything will seem very disjointed and unbelievable.”Zorro nodded.“It will sound unbelievable anyway,” Crane added.He took a deep breath and began.“We, I mean the men I work with on _Seaview_ , met up with a scientist who had discovered the means of time travel using a timepiece.He needed us because of _Seaview’s_ tremendous power source.”He looked at Zorro, heard a slight noise behind him and sighed again.“Your manservant doesn’t need to stay hidden anymore.”At a nod from Zorro, the small, somewhat pudgy man eased forward to sit near his boss.The eyes were intensely inquisitive and seemed to be sizing him up.It reminded Lee of what some of his men did when confronting possible enemies.“ _Seaview_ is a very large nuclear powered submarine.”He stopped again.“A submarine is an enclosed vessel that can travel underwater.Some scientists and inventors were experimenting with crude submarines back during the American Revolutionary War.Anyway, nuclear power is a type of fuel that the _Seaview_ runs on.It’s very dangerous, but used the right way, it is much, much more efficient than . . . well, wood or coal.As I hinted, it’s very powerful and Mr. Pem wanted _Seaview’s_ nuclear, uh, furnace to power his timepiece.He tried twice.The second time he sent _Seaview_ back to the time of the American Revolutionary War.”He stopped and licked his lips.**

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**Zorro refilled the mug and handed it to Crane, who took a long drink.“Anyway, Admiral Nelson, my boss….”He paused a moment, before sighing and continuing.“The admiral is also one of the designers and the builder of _Seaview_ and was able to thwart Pem’s plans and take us back to our own time.”He gazed intently at the two men.“A time more than a hundred and fifty years into your future.Or rather now, I guess.” Lee shook his head.“It’s confusing.Anyway, Pem was killed and the admiral was planning on destroying the timepiece.It was simply too dangerous to leave around.Only thing is, it seems that Pem had one last piece of posthumous revenge on his mind.He apparently planned to pull me from my time to a place far from my home and friends.**

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**“But how could he do that if he was dead?” Zorro asked.“And before we continue, what do you have in mind with the information that you know about me?”** ****

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**“Nothing, of course.I have been undercover often enough to know the merits of such work as you do and the secrecy under which you operate.Whether the stories are partially accurate, wholly accurate or only a little bit on the mark, what you did for me tells me that you are doing good with this disguise of yours.I have no intention of giving you away.Hell, I only want to stay alive and figure out how to survive in my new existence.”**

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**The resignation in Crane’s voice wasn’t lost on the masked avenger, but there was no immediate response he could make.Zorro instantly believed him.He took off his hat, and then pulled the mask off, running his hand through his hair.“You are right.I am Don Diego de la Vega at your service, and this is my man-servant, my friend, Bernardo.”** ****

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**Crane nodded to both.“Thank you for your confidence.”He finished the mug before continuing.“Can’t get water from a spring like that in my time.Or rather in the future.”He handed the mug to Bernardo.“As to your question, it would seem that Pem was able to make a companion timepiece, or something on that order.Right now I am only guessing.The timepiece that I had on me when I ended up in your time and place seemed to be only a, uh, well, like a receptor.It was linked to the actual time travel device, but it doesn’t seem to have the same capabilities.I can only guess that when the admiral began working on the watch—and I’m sure he did it meticulously, taking it apart piece by piece to try and find out how it worked….”** ****

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**“But I thought you said your admiral was going to destroy it.Why the detailed examination?”** ****

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**“If someone lays a trap for you, one that is clever and very scrupulously put together, don’t you want to know how it worked?” Lee asked.** ****

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**Diego nodded.“Yes, I would.I am sorry, that was a rather simple-minded question.”** ****

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**“No, not really, perhaps it would have been better to simply bash it in,” Lee replied.“Be that as it may, the admiral is a scientist as much or more than he’s a retired admiral and statistician.I’m sure he had to find out.I was going to help him, but I had just finished a duty watch in the control room after a rather tense and stress-filled adventure and, frankly, I was totally beat—tired out.Admiral Nelson ordered me to get some rest.” Crane shrugged as he remembered the events leading up to his time transfer.“I went straight to my cabin.”He blinked and then grinned.“I really must have been tired.I usually get a cup of coffee from the galley after a watch.Well, I got to my cabin, pulled off my shoes and tie, then noticed the watch on my desk.I picked it up, wondering where it came from, then sat on my bunk, still studying it.That’s when all hell broke loose.I don’t remember much of the transition, except for the gut wrenching feeling of being pulled through an eyedropper.Then I was on an arid hillside, the device in my hand, and the sun in my eyes.That’s when I knew that Pem had figured out an ultimate revenge.At least for me.”** ****

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**“Capitán Ruiz has the timepiece,” Diego said thoughtfully.“Maybe if we….”** ****

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**Crane waved his hand.“No, like I said it wasn’t a full-fledged time travel device.It simply was linked to the main timepiece and was meant to do just what it did, ship a victim to a predetermined destination and strand him there.”What he didn’t say was that the main watch would have been destroyed by the time anyone realized that he was gone.In so many words, Lee Crane, modern Naval commander, was stuck in a pre-industrial society, wanted by the law and protected by a previously believed fictional character.He sighed but said nothing.**

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**Bernardo signed vigorously.Diego watched him carefully but Crane didn’t have the desire to do more than glance.The full import of all that had happened the previous week crashed into him with the retelling.Everything had been taken away from him.Pem had to have realized at least some of what this would mean to him.No career, no _Seaview_ , Chip, the admiral, the men.Everything gone.Everything….** ****

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**“Captain Crane?” Diego was asking.**

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**Lee looked up and saw that both men were gazing at him intently.“Just Lee will do, Don Diego,” he said woodenly.“I have no commission, no ship and no crew, therefore I am no longer a captain.”** ****

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**“Lee, and by the way, I am Diego, not Don Diego. Whether you feel you have no position, by virtue of your past accomplishments you deserve your title.”**

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**Crane nodded, but said nothing.**

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**“Bernardo was pointing out that if this Admiral Nelson is clever enough to build one of these submarines and to outwit a man with a time travel device, why couldn’t he rebuild that time piece and use it to find you?”** ****

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**Hope flared briefly, but then died.“Because he would have no idea where and when to find me.”** ****

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**“Maybe if you had the other timepiece it would be easier for him,” Diego responded quietly.“You said they were linked.”** ****

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**Crane only gaped at them.Indeed, if anyone could pull off something like this, it would be the admiral.It would be a definite long shot, but Bernardo was right, if anyone could do it, the admiral could.“It would mean staying in the vicinity, I think.I never was as scientifically oriented as the admiral was.”He sucked in a deep breath, feeling at least a small measure of hope. “I wish you could know Admiral Nelson.A brilliant man.You couldn’t even begin to imagine all of the things he’s invented, improved on, discovered.And the _Seaview_!Since I heard he was going to build her, I had dreamed of serving on her.Finally I did.More than four difficult, fantastic, exciting, frightening, magnificent years aboard the most phenomenal boat on or under the ocean.”Lee sighed, trying to rein in his emotions.**

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**“I do not understand all of the things you have told us, but I think you are right.You would need to stay in this area, I believe.And you would probably need that strange timepiece you were carrying when you came to . . . our time,” Diego mused.“We have to figure out a way to get it back.”** ****

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**“But how do I stay out of the comandante’s clutches?” Lee asked.**

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**“You have to give your body time to heal anyway,” Diego responded.“Would you mind spending some time in the cave here?”** ****

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**Crane laughed.“You are talking to a submariner.Of course I wouldn’t mind.The only problem I would have is that there would be nothing to check, to fix or to rebuild.Rock doesn’t need maintenance and usually doesn’t spring leaks.”**

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**Throughout the conversation Bernardo periodically watched his master and Crane.Diego translated some of the conversation that it was apparent the mozo didn’t understand.Suddenly, Bernardo began signing.Lee watched him intently, but the sign language, while more picturesque than ASL, was something that the two men had worked out among themselves and was difficult for him to follow.**

**  
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**“That is a very good idea, Bernardo,” Diego said with a great smile.He turned to Lee.“Bernardo thinks that it might be very good for you and I to practice Spanish with each other.Ruiz knows that you are American and that your skill in our language is limited.If we practiced and you became proficient, it would help you avoid being recaptured.”** ****

**  
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**“I appreciate that,” Lee replied.“That would be very helpful.”** ****

**  
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**Diego smiled before continuing.“And when you are feeling better, perhaps we could cross swords.It has been a long time since I have had more than my father or Bernardo here to practice my skills on.Since you are a Naval officer, you most likely had your own saber, but you should easily be able to adapt to one of my blades.Undoubtedly each of us has a different style that would be of benefit to the other.”** ****

**  
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**Lee stared at Diego in disbelief and then he smiled softly.“I don’t have a saber and I have never fenced.That is not something expected in the military of my day.I do have some fighting skills that might interest you, but anything you teach me about fencing would be new to me and I would appreciate that, too.”** ****

**  
**

**Diego was flabbergasted.“No fencing skills?What did you learn in your military training?” he asked, thinking of the classes he had taken in Spain.** ****

**  
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**“A lot of things have changed, Diego.There are more advances in the military arts than you can even begin to imagine.”** ****

**  
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**Diego was thoughtful.If what Lee had said already was any indication that was probably true.“Well, I can teach you fencing as well.But first you must get well and then we must figure out how to get your belongings back from the cuartel.”** ****

**  
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**Lee was tired, and his feet hurt, his back hurt, but he wasn’t going to admit it, so he simply said, “I’m okay.But I think it is imperative that we get that timepiece and my other things.He got my father’s ring, too.”** ****

**  
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**“I do not remember seeing a ring with the things he said he took from you,” Diego said.** ****

**  
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**“Probably kept it for himself,” Lee said acidly.** ****

**  
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**“We’ll get all your belongings back, Lee.”** ****

**  
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**Bernardo came down the stone steps.Crane hadn’t even remembered seeing him leave.The servant handed him a bowl of something that exuded a remarkably enticing aroma.Lee sipped and then drank more heartily.It had beef mainly, but whatever else it had, the combination was heavenly.He had eaten nothing like this since his arrival in this time and place.It wasn’t long before he had finished the entire bowlful.Within only a short time he was lying back down on the pallet and had fallen sound asleep.**


	3. New Page 1

**  
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**Lieutenant Frank O’Brien yawned and looked at his watch.It was five minutes past time for Captain Crane to take over the watch.That in and of itself was unusual, on top of the fact that the skipper hadn’t been seen since his last watch.What was it Mr. Morton had said?Don’t bother the captain.If he was going to actually rest during his off hours, then let him.And it had been so quiet since Pem’s death that they had all sort of shut down.However, now it was time for the captain to take the con and frankly, O’Brien felt a bit of alarm at Crane’s absence.The lieutenant reached for the mike.“Captain Crane to the Control Room,” he called.**

**  
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**Several minutes later, the lieutenant really began to worry.He called down to the captain’s cabin.There was no answer so he did another general call.“Captain Crane, please report.”Again, there was no answer.O’Brien called the admiral’s cabin.**

**  
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**“Yes, Mr. O’Brien?” came the sleepy response.**

**  
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**“Sorry to wake you, sir, but I can’t seem to raise the skipper.Do you know where he is?”** ****

**  
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**“No.Have you tried his cabin?”** ****

**  
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**“Yes, sir.”** ****

**  
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**“A general call?”** ****

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**“I have done that, too, sir.Twice.There is no response at all.”** ****

**  
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**The voice on the other end was very awake now.“I’ll be right there, Lieutenant.”** ****

**  
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**But Nelson didn’t go directly to the control room.In the four minutes that it had taken him to wash up and dress, he had decided to check Lee’s cabin himself.Worry knotted itself inside his stomach and he felt the beginnings of a headache.This whole business with Mr. Pem was like some hell-conceived nightmare and this just felt like an extension of the same.He had spent all of almost eight hours examining and taking that timepiece apart and he had only gotten to bed a couple of hours ago.He had ordered Lee out of the lab near the beginning.The man had been dead on his feet.**

**  
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**When he knocked at Lee’s cabin, there was no response, but somehow he didn’t expect any.Pulling out his key, the boat’s master key, which he had only previously had to use on the event of the previous captain’s death, he slipped it in the lock and then turned the handle.Inside it was quiet and orderly.Lee’s shoes were on the floor next to the bunk and his tie lay benignly on the only slightly rumpled covers.There was no other evidence that his captain had even been in the cabin for the past ten hours.Harriman began to check the desk, opening drawers and glancing inside.He didn’t have far to go.Sitting on the left side of the top drawer was an envelope addressed to him.It wasn’t in Lee’s handwriting.A chill shot up and down his spine as he opened it.**

**  
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**“Dear Admiral Nelson, If you are reading this, it will be because your captain has disappeared.It will also be partial evidence that you have beaten me once again.Bravo!But a hollow victory at best, my dear adversary.Whether my defeat is a mortal one or not, I can at least take pleasure in knowing that my revenge will be beyond anything you could have imagined.Oh, and my dear Admiral, I knew just what that revenge would be when you so quickly agreed to my terms after I had destroyed your submarine and its crewmen.You would do anything to save your friends.Now be assured that your closest ally, the closest thing you have to a son—and yes, that was quite apparent to me, Admiral.Nevertheless, Captain Crane is now somewhere in time; in peril, alone and without any hope of succor.By now I am sure you have also destroyed my timepiece and with it any chance you might have of saving Lee Crane.Understand that it is because of your actions that you have doomed him to a most tenuous and uncertain past and future….Pem.”**

**  
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**Nelson stared at the letter in horror, then crumpled it in his fist as he felt the fire of rage and frustration settle into his heart.He felt his face flush and he blinked away the hot tears that threatened to flow down his weathered cheeks. _Damn him.Damn him to hell!_ Harriman thought.He heard a sharp, deep cry of anguish and realized that it had come from him.His fist banged on the desk, but he ignored the subsequent pain.He had sent Lee somewhere in time.He had dismantled the timepiece.Lee was gone.Where?Where could he be?How far in the past?What difference did it make, he had sentenced Lee to a hell worse than anything Satan could come up with. _Damn Pem!!_**

**  
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**Nelson heard someone’s footsteps clattering down the corridor and stop at the doorway.With a quick swipe of his hand across his face, Nelson brought his emotions under control.**

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**“Admiral, Lt. O’Brien told me….”It was Chip Morton.** ****

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**“Yes, he told you he couldn’t raise the captain….Lee is gone, Chip.”He handed Chip the wrinkled note and then waited.The sudden slamming of a fist against the bulkhead told him that Morton understood the full import of Pem’s words just as he had.** ****

**  
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**“Can’t we get him back?The timepiece….?”** ****

**  
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**“He’s right.I took it apart.Lee apparently was sent back when I started.I don’t know, Chip.I really don’t know if I can do it.I don’t know if I can get it back together.Or even use it if I do.Or where to go if I do use it.”He felt something squeezing his heart, blackening his vision, turning his guts inside out.Harriman took a deep breath, still trying to get control.He felt his fists opening and closing on empty air.He wished Pem had not died.Oh, how he wished he had that leering devil’s neck in his hands right now.** ****

**  
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**“But you catalogued, took notes and have pictures, don’t you, Admiral?You remember, don’t you?"** ****

**  
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**“Yes, but I don’t know….”** ****

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**“You owe it to him to try, Admiral!” Chip’s voice rose with his anxiety and worry.“You owe him that much!And you can do it.You can do it!”** ****

**  
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**“Yes, I do owe him that much, Chip.I know that.Oh, how much I do know that,” Nelson replied fervently.“I just hope that trying is good enough.”He turned and gazed intently into Chip’s anguished blue eyes.They were also filled with belief in his abilities.** ****

**  
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**“Admiral, you won’t just try, you will succeed.I know you will find him.”** ****

**  
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**Harriman felt the emotion of the exec’s hope filtering into his own heart.This was not the time to give in to despair.“Chip, we will find Lee.All of us.He is part of this boat and all of us will find him. I will work on the timepiece and continue to work on it.I want you to help me.You are meticulous and will keep me from making any mistakes.I want everyone else to think about where Pem might have sent Lee.That bastard had to have let something slip, said something offhanded that would be a clue.And there had to have been another, some linking timepiece, something that would have drawn from or used the main watch.If Lee keeps that with him….Wherever he is, if he keeps the other apparatus, maybe we can use it like a homing device.”** ****

**  
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**“Of course, Lee would consider that.He would have to,” Chip said, excited.“Do you want me to tell the men?”** ****

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**“No, Chip.I think I should.”He took a deep breath.“I will tell them now.”He gazed again into the intense blue eyes of _Seaview’s_ executive officer.They were now lit with the fire of hope.Harriman fed on that hope.It and luck were all they had right now.“Thank you, Chip.Thank you for your confidence.”**

**  
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**“We’ll get him back, sir.”**

**===============================**

**  
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**Two weeks after his rescue by Zorro, Crane sat quietly in front of the fire in the de la Vega library, nursing a glass of wine and watching the flames.Nearby sat Don Alejandro de la Vega, a very uncomplicated but conservative man, who very much backed his son, even as he worried about his offspring’s future.Even now, Lee could see the lines of tension in the old man’s face.Diego was in the pueblo as Zorro, trying to find a way to get Lee’s belongings back.It chafed the young captain that he was sitting here instead of helping his new friend in his dangerous endeavor.**

**  
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**“It is hard to believe that such a thing could even exist,” Alejandro said, holding the crude sketch of the _Seaview_ that Lee had drawn earlier in the day for Diego.**

**  
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**Crane had included the Flying Sub and as much background as he could to give an indication of size of the giant submarine.Problem was, Lee wasn’t an artist and he had not done justice to the Gray Lady.“Thing is, Don Alejandro, it doesn’t. At least not for another hundred and fifty years.The designer hasn’t even been born yet.”Again Crane thought about his boss and mentor and sighed softly.**

**  
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**“How long did you say this underwater ship was, Captain?” Alejandro asked, picking up on the young man’s melancholy.** ****

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**“More than five hundred feet.She really is spacious compared to any other submarine ever built,” Lee said with a slight chuckle.“I remember my first duty on a sub.I was at a bit of disadvantage, being a little bit on the tall side.But you only had to bang your head a couple of times to know instinctively when to duck.But on the Gray Lady….”** ****

**  
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**“Interesting nickname,” the old man mused, taking a swallow of his wine after studying it carefully by the light of the flames.** ****

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**“She’s smoky gray and quite a lady.Elegant, smooth as silk, but still capricious at times.Steady and strong and plenty tough in a skirmish.”Here Lee paused and when he continued, his voice was deep in its melancholy.“I had hoped to serve her and her crew as long as I was physically able.”** ****

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**“You have talked of the genius of your commanding officer.Have faith, Lee, in your Admiral Nelson.”There was silence for several minutes.The only sound was that of the crackling fire.“And have faith in my son, who has vowed to get your belongings and that thing which will help your people find you.”** ****

**  
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**“Yes, you are right, Don Alejandro.It’s just hard at times.And it is most difficult to sit aside and let Diego do all of the dangerous work.”** ****

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**“I can imagine,” he said and finished his glass of wine.“Would you like some more wine?”** ****

**  
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**“A little, sir.It’s very good, by the way.”** ****

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**Alejandro poured each of them a small amount from the decanter on the ornate table near his elbow.“Thank you.I consider the de la Vega vintage to be the best in California, but I may be biased,” he replied with a chuckle.Bernardo entered the room and placed another log on the fire.“Your talk about your ship reminds me of one that visited this area about fifteen years ago.She was extremely elegant, a queen among sailing vessels—a treasure galleon.They had even painted detailed pictures and symbols on her sails.”**

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**“A treasure galleon in Spanish California?”** ****

**  
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**“Yes, sent from Mexico City to deliver treasure for the Spanish missions in San Diego and Monterey.”He smiled.“I suspect it was to also impress us poor colonials as to the might and prosperity of the Spanish motherland.”** ****

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**“What was her name?” Crane asked, curious.** ****

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**“ _Orbe de Oro_.”** ****

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_**The Sphere of Gold,** _ **Lee translated mentally.He felt a cold shiver run down his spine.There were those who said _Orbe de Oro_ was a ghost ship.Some claimed it was just something made up to entice impressionable young divers, kind of like snipe hunting was the joke in other parts of the country.“You mean it was real?”** ****

**  
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**“Indeed it was, Captain.I saw her with my own eyes.Diego was only a young lad at the time, but he remembers, too.”** ****

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**“What happened to her?”** ****

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**“There was a terrible storm.I had never seen one like it before, nor have I seen one since.It was more like the hurricanes they have in the tropics,” Alejandro began.“ _Orbe de Oro_ was simply unable to withstand such a storm.I heard from one of the few who survived her destruction that the capitán tried to shelter on the lee side of a cove north of here, but he was unable to reach his destination.I doubt that even that would have helped.I heard rumors that she was blown out toward Santa Rosa Island, but that is all that it is—a rumor. Wherever she ended up, she foundered under the fierce waves, broke up, and was lost.I went out in a rescue and salvage boat after the storm and saw, in the distance, what was left of her mast floating on the waves.Everything soon disappeared.Many men went to try and salvage her treasures, but there was never anything found.It was rumored that the captain, realizing that the storm was more dangerous than anyone could imagine had loaded the most valuable of the treasures into his personal metal trunk at the last minute in hopes of its eventual recovery.”**

**  
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**“Really?”** ****

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**Alejandro shrugged.“That is only rumor.The captain died and most of the crew died with him.Only a few sailors were able to survive the tempest and get to shore.None of them lived more than a few years after the event.”** ****

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**“So how far off shore did this occur?” Lee asked, his curiosity piqued.**

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**“Hmm, perhaps a half mile.”** ****

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**“And if I recall, the depth could be about a hundred feet that far out.”** ****

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**Alejandro laughed.“It might as well be a hundred miles, my young captain.Several fool-hearty young men have tried all kinds of things to go down that far.”** ****

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**“Getting there isn’t that difficult.It’s the staying there for any length of time that is the problem.Especially without the right gear.”**

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**“Gear?”** ****

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**“Diving equipment, Don Alejandro.The devices that make it easier to swim for extended periods of time under the ocean.But it’s still possible to dive that deep and stay down for a couple of minutes.”Crane pondered what Don Alejandro had told him.“Do you think when Capitán Ruiz gets tired of looking for me, we could go out there and check it out?”** ****

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**“Are you serious, Capitán Crane?”** ****

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**Lee shrugged.“I would like to do something useful while I’m here.Speaking Spanish and fencing do not pay the . . . uh, taxes,” he improvised.**

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**“If you are thinking of finding treasure to earn a living in this place, reconsider.The Mexican government might give a small reward, but most likely you would get a thank you from the governor and that would be it.Or perhaps be imprisoned for stealing government property,” he added with a snort of derision.** ****

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**But Lee wasn’t paying close attention.The lure of the ocean, his need for adventure, along with his own boredom were combining in such a way to help him focus on something other than his seemingly hopeless situation.**

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	4. New Page 1

New Page 1

**A Matter of Time**  
  
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**Chapter 4**

**But Capitán Ruiz was seemingly tireless.The patrols continued….**

**Crane lowered the point of the sword and stepped back.Bernardo made a motion with his free hand, indicating a question.Grabbing a towel from the top rail of Tornado’s stall, Lee wiped his face, then shook his head.**

**“I am just not in it today,” he said in now, almost fluent Spanish.He handed the manservant his sword and then walked to the small stream where he quenched his thirst.**

**The mozo studied the young American and waited until he turned back to face him.Then he signed another question.**

**“I know Ruiz is still looking for me.The man is obsessed!” Crane said irritably.“But after three weeks, these rock walls are about to drive me crazy.There has to be something I can do.Anything!”** ****

**Bernardo signed that Crane could get something from the de la Vega’s extensive library.**

**“I can speak the language, perhaps I can read Spanish, but that’s not the answer, Bernardo,” Crane replied tersely.“And don’t suggest that I have another midnight chat with Don Alejandro or groom the horse, or even watch the stars in the secret canyon.”He began to pace.**

**Bernardo made no more suggestions; in fact he did nothing at all but watch the young man in his nervous motions.In the three weeks that the captain had been with them he had learned remarkably fast.Once he had recovered from his injuries, Crane had exhibited almost boundless energy and an insatiable thirst to learn, first the language and then swordplay.Only the previous night Don Diego had begun to give the Americano riding lessons, although it was obvious that Señor Crane was not going to be quite as adept on horseback as he was with his other studies.** ****

**“I know we are near the ocean.”** ****

**Bernardo nodded and then signed to him again.He was aware of Crane’s interest in the wreck of the _Orbe de Oro_ and felt it could become a dangerous fascination.** ****

**“Yes, I know diving that deeply would be dangerous!To you, maybe.Regardless, I just want to swim, explore, do something different!I can body surf at night!Do you think Ruiz will be patrolling the beach?”** ****

**Bernardo shook his head frenziedly and then nodded.** ****

**“No, I have to get out, either with or without your help.And my belongings.The timepiece.”** ****

**“What about the timepiece?” Diego asked pleasantly from the stairs.He was dressed in a dark blue suit with black embroidery shot with silver thread.He was carrying a bundle of clothes in his arms.“Here,” he said, handing the bundle the Americano.“You are going out tonight, Lee.”He turned to Bernardo.“Saddle a horse for the captain.”He turned back to Crane.“Riding in the dark is not good practice, but it is better than riding in circles near the secret cave.”He grinned at Lee who smiled back.Thankfully, the matter of Crane’s belongings was headed off for the moment.Trying to get into the cuartel had not only been frustrating, but impossible of late.He wasn’t sure what he was going to do about that problem.** ****

**“Sorry, but at least _Seaview_ had room to pace if I got bored, which I do not recall ever happening,” Lee said sheepishly.** ****

**“You said you wanted to visit the ocean?”** ****

**Lee nodded.“I am especially interested in the site where the _Orbe de Oro_ sank.”** ****

**“We will have to ride a little north to avoid Capitán Ruiz’s heaviest patrols, but there is a spot where one can remain fairly well hidden if patrols do come.It is also the beach nearest the supposed site of the shipwreck, even if it is not a particularly good area to swim.”**

**“Again, Diego, I am a submariner and a certified diver.”He paused at the hacendado’s puzzled look.“In other words, I can swim quite well.Look, I would like more of a challenge than trying to keep from going insane underground.Would there be a boat there to take out far enough to reach the site of the wreck?”** ****

**“Not this trip, my friend.I know how eager you are to try your hand at finding the shipwreck, but we need to take this in small increments, especially since we have to work at night for the present.We are riding tonight simply to scout the area, to help you with your riding skills and to keep you from going _loco_.”Diego knew how the young sea captain felt.They were much alike, he and Lee Crane.Except in the Americano’s case, Lee had the added anxiety of being bereft of everything with which he was familiar.Despite Ruiz’s obsessive drive to find his escaped prisoner and capture or kill Zorro, Diego would take Lee to the ocean.The main thing that worried him was the young American’s lack of riding skills.There had been almost no opportunity to teach him and when he did, Crane seemed to distrust his mount.**

**With time he would become better—Diego checked himself.Time.He realized that was the other issue.Lee was chafing at his inability to change his situation.By now, Diego would have been able to recognize several of Lee’s shipmates by the American’s very vivid descriptions, especially that of his mentor, Admiral Harriman Nelson.He knew that it also chafed Crane that succor from his friends had not arrived.**

**And while Lee Crane knew logically that such rescue was remote, still the hope was there.Indeed, the hope had to remain, Diego thought.The hacendado remembered Lee’s sketch of his submarine and the smaller one that it carried within her belly.He was astonished that such a creation could ever exist and that a group of over a hundred men could actually live in and run such a mechanical marvel.It was no wonder that the captain had finally run out of patience with his rocky confinement.Compared to what he was used to, the secret cave was dark, dreary and uninteresting to say the least.“Those should fit you, even though you are a bit more slender than I.”** ****

**Crane retired to a dark corner of the cave and changed.He realized that this outfit was not a duplication of Diego’s Zorro outfit but it was another one of the young don’s darker outfits.The little bit of decoration along the sides of the pants was black almost blending with the dark brown of the material.The buttons were of a darkened bone or ivory and didn’t shine in the tiny bit of light available.Lee was grateful to his new friend and mindful of the risk Diego was taking in leading him outside of the safety of the cave.But still, he had to do something.**

**“Remember my instructions about horses, Lee,” Diego admonished as they walked toward the entrance of the cave and then through it.Tornado, already saddled and ready, followed docilely as though he were a dog, rather than a horse.** ****

**“Yes, I remember,” Crane replied, having heard the same thing during his ONI training.**

**Bernardo appeared out of the darkness leading a horse.**

**“Let us go to the beach then,” Diego said cheerfully.**

**“You’re taking Tornado?”** ****

**“Yes.By now, Tornado has sired black foals in several of the local herds.A black horse is not so rare as it used to be.In fact, in order to keep suspicion from falling close to home, we took him to a few more distant ranches and let him have his fun,” Diego explained with a grin.Lee chuckled softly.“And if we are stopped, you are one of my vaqueros and you are taking me to the site where several steers have been slaughtered.Your language skills have improved to the point where none of the lancers would even dream that you are the same man who was incarcerated only a few short weeks ago.”** ****

**“I hope not.”Lee paused and then mounted his horse.When he had done so, he felt a twinge of guilt at his insistence on this dangerous excursion.If it were only himself, he wouldn’t be the least bit worried.“Diego, if you think this is too dangerous….”** ****

**“For me, no.I worry about you, my friend.I wouldn’t want you to be recaptured.”Diego mounted Tornado.“No, Lee, I think all will be well.There has to be a time to venture out and to test your new skills.”** ****

**At first the ride was difficult for Lee.It was hard enough trusting something that could bite or kick or run off with him on the narrow, rocky trails, but under Diego’s patient tutelage, he relaxed and got used to the feel of the animal under his legs.Apparently Bernardo had chosen well.While Crane could feel the muscular power of the gelding, the horse had a placid enough temperament to be patient with him.Beside him Tornado pranced periodically, but his horse, which had not been named, walked normally.**

**Finally, they reached a more open trail, or roadway.Lee still couldn’t see a great deal around him.The moon was almost ready to set, being a bit more than first quarter, but Diego had probably planned it this way.**

**“Come, my friend, it is time to ride.Urge your mount into a trot,” Diego admonished, only having to nudge Tornado slightly with his heels to get a response.**

**Lee had to coax his mount a bit less subtly.His nudge was more of a kick and finally the gelding broke into a steady and easy trot.A bit more urging and the animal caught up with Diego and Tornado.** ****

**“Good.We will keep the pace steady along here.This is a well-traveled and smooth road.Tornado will alert me if there is any danger.”They rode in silence for a while longer.“You are doing quite well, Lee.”** ****

**“Thanks, but it is a bit disconcerting not being able to see everything around you.”** ****

**“And you can do this in a metal-encased machine that plies through the ocean?” Diego asked pointedly.He had wondered about that, but had not yet asked.** ****

**Lee chuckled.“Touché.But yes, we have detection devices that let us know what is ahead, behind and all around us.Most of the time those devices work quite well.”** ****

**“All right, consider your mount’s abilities as your detection devices.A horse can do unexpected things because its eyes see differently than ours do, their senses of smell and hearing are more acute than ours, and because a horse has the instincts of a prey animal. Still, you can feel subtle differences that tell you to be more careful, or to watch the area more carefully.”** ****

**Lee nodded, but said nothing, concentrating on what he was doing.It wasn’t long before the booming of the surf sounded more loudly ahead of them and he felt his excitement build.Apparently his horse felt that excitement as well because it began to prance about and then it galloped toward the beach.**

**They dismounted just beyond the tide line and Diego tethered the gelding behind an outcropping of rocks.With Tornado he simply tied the reins and laid them on the saddle so the horse wouldn’t step on them, and left him to forage.**

**Crane surveyed the shore with the aide of the lowering moon and then stripped off his boots, socks, trousers and shirt, leaving himself clad only in the brief underwear of his former time and place.Diego cocked an eyebrow, but said nothing.He was only glad they were alone, or his American friend could be arrested for indecent exposure.Then he remembered the times as a youth when he snuck down to a remote pond to skinny dip and he chuckled.Diego pulled off his own boots and socks, but only rolled up the legs of his trousers before he waded into the surf.**

**“I am going to see how strong the current is and how quickly the shoreline drops away,” Lee said, feeling the adrenalin pumping as strongly through his body as the waves that were wrapping around his ankles.He turned and quickly dove into the surf.For a short time he was buffeted by the incoming waves and then he was able to get back into the rhythm of the sea and made steady progress out from the beach.Lee felt the currents tug at him and the cool water invigorate him with each stroke.The ocean seemed to be caressing his body and he felt good in a way that he had not felt since his forced separation from _Seaview_.Crane paused and looked back at the shore; surprised at the distance he had swum.As best as he could make out by the light of the moon, he had to have easily made several hundred feet in that short time.It delighted him and he could only attribute his sustained stamina to the fencing lessons.Lee waved to Diego and then floated in the moonlight as his breathing quickly returned to normal.**

**Crane was determined to swim at least that distance more, but first he wanted to get an estimate of the distance to the bottom.Taking a deep breath, he dove downward, wishing he had a mask to help him see better.The water was astonishingly clear even in the moonlight and he could vaguely see the darkness that indicated the bottom.He touched the bottom with his fingers and then gazed around him.Bottom life was even more abundant than he remembered and realized, of course, that there was hardly any human incursion during this time.That both saddened and exhilarated him.Sad because of all the damage that had been done by the time the admiral had created his phenomenal research vessel and exhilaration because of the opportunities that he might have to explore before Nelson was able to figure out where he was.If, of course, Ruiz would let up on the search.**

**His lungs beginning to protest, Lee pushed from the bottom and rose quickly to the surface.Several breaths and he continued his swim further out from the shore.Another few hundred feet and Crane dove for the bottom again, marveling at the life that he saw swimming in the moonlight.He was astonished at the sleek, lithe bodies that seemed to come almost close enough for him to touch.Then he realized that they were sea otters!Distant clicks and whistles gave evidence of whales or dolphins or both.As he got closer to the bottom, the light faded dramatically and he felt the tickle of kelp curling around his legs and body.Finally he felt the bottom and because he could see almost nothing, he almost immediately rose back to the surface.From the time and speed of his ascent, Lee judged that the bottom had to have been around forty or fifty feet.**

**Again floating on the surface, he let his breathing return to normal and then he swam leisurely back to the shore, the strokes steady and sure.When he waded up on shore, he saw Diego sitting on the rocks nearby, watching, a large grin on his face.As he shook the water from his hair, Lee returned the smile and reached for his clothes.They weren’t there.Puzzled, he glanced back at Diego and saw that the hacendado had a bundle at his feet.**

**“I thought it would be better to be as discreet as possible, just in case a patrol passed nearby,” his friend told him when he was closer.“Tornado seemed nervous a little while ago and I couldn’t tell if someone was nearby or not.”** ****

**“Thanks, Diego, I guess that was rather careless of me.”** ****

**“No matter.Was it a good swim?”** ****

**“Wonderful.It would only have been better if it had been during daylight.I can’t believe I saw otters and heard whales that close to shore.Amazing!”**

**“You do not see or hear those things during your time?” Diego asked, curious.** ****

**“Not that easily.More men, more hunting and more pollution—dirt and waste—in the water.”Crane quickly pulled on his clothing and walked with Diego to where the horses awaited them.The ride back was without incident.After washing the salt off and changing in the cave, Lee lay down to rest and almost immediately fell asleep.**

**Diego quietly walked up the stone steps and saw Bernardo waiting for him in the small secret room just on the other side of his bedroom wall.The mozo motioned to him.**

**“Yes, the Americano had his swim.I was surprised how far he went, how long he was out there and how good it made him feel.He is asleep right now.”He paused, not exactly sure how to say what was on his mind.“I believe that Ruiz is sending patrols near the coast, though.”Bernardo gazed at him in alarm.“I didn’t see or hear them directly, but Tornado was nervous.It could have been someone else.If Capitán Crane wants to go out again, we will simply have to be more careful.”Bernardo indicated that they should tell the Americano so that he would not risk going out again.Diego shook his head.“No, not right now.I more or less hinted that there might have been someone out there.I could not be sure what was there.I did see hoof prints when we crossed the coastal road on the way back to the hacienda, but it was hard to tell if they were fresh in the moonlight.”He sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly.“Bernardo, you have to remember, this is a man who has been torn from everything he knows and thrown into a place that is totally strange to him.He has done very well, but still he is bereft.The ocean gave him something of that lost life back.I could not do anything to deny him such a tiny pleasure unless it is absolutely necessary.”** ****

**So it was that almost a week later, Crane felt the urge to go out again.It appeared that Ruiz was easing back on his patrols and this time, Diego prepared a more detailed story in case they did come across a patrol.While the young hacendado watched in the light of the waxing moon, Lee Crane swam and cavorted like the dolphins that came close to investigate.Diego was so entranced that he almost missed the warning that Tornado was giving him.In the distance he heard the sound of military tack and knew that a patrol had chosen this night to check out the ocean highway.**  
  
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	5. New Page 1

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**A Matter of Time**  
  
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**Lt. Commander Chip Morton**

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**Admiral Jiggs Starke**  
  
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**Chapter 5**

**“You have it put together, Admiral,” Morton breathed softly as he looked over the admiral’s shoulder.“You did it!It’s perfect!”**

**“Thanks, Chip, but I won’t know that until I test it.”Nelson carefully lay the timepiece down and took a deep breath.Even that was difficult; he was so tired.His back ached, his head ached and his eyes burned.Doc had been eager to say for the past three months, that Harriman wasn’t going to do Lee Crane any good if he collapsed from total exhaustion.Right now, he was willing to believe it, but right now, he was also feeling the satisfaction of having accomplished step one in the rescue of Captain Crane.**

**What was frustrating, though, was the fact that it had taken so long to do it.Despite his memory of the steps in dismantling the watch, despite notes, sporadic at best, due mainly to the fact that he had never dreamed he would be putting it back together again; and he certainly hadn’t wanted anyone else to be able to, either—but despite all of that, he was intensely irritated that he couldn’t get it together as fast as he had taken it apart.Harriman had been forced to stop to think numerous times about what he was doing, to measure, to record his thoughts, use the computer, sketch, pull out the few photographs of the device, take the watch apart and put it back together again and again.He couldn’t afford to make a mistake, because he most likely wouldn’t be able to duplicate some of the parts if he did.At many points in his quest to rebuild the timepiece, he had cursed and doubted that he would ever succeed.It was only his fear of leaving Lee alone in a past or future time that spurred him on.**

**And of course, Chip Morton.Chip was relentless in his belief that the watch could be rebuilt.He had offered suggestions, placed pieces together when Nelson’s hands shook from exhaustion, taken down the admiral’s thoughts and theories, even been a gofer at times.Chip had been an unabashed cheerleader in his belief that the admiral could do the job.Not only that, the executive officer had kept the boat running for the past three months, as well as spending most of his free time helping him in the lab.While Nelson had instructed Angie and the rest of the staff at NIMR to refuse any more assignments for _Seaview,_ the submarine’s docket had all ready been pretty full these past months, made more full by Pem’s interference before Lee’s disappearance.So for all practical purposes Chip and the rest of the crew had not only run the boat, but also overseen all of the research and experiments.Research!He was beginning to wonder if he would ever be able to just do pure research again.Maybe when this was all over….He took a deep, tired breath and gazed at his exec.He saw what he already knew—that as exhausted as Harriman felt right now; Morton had to be more so.Chip wiped his hand across his tired eyes.**

**“If we find Lee, it will be totally due to you, Chip,” Nelson said quietly.**

**“No, sir.You got this thing together,” Morton said with a smile.The blue eyes were dark with fatigue.“When do we test it?”**

**The admiral couldn’t help it; he chuckled softly.“Not now, Mr. Morton.As much as I would like to, we have to prepare and we can’t do it in the shape we’re in right now.”**

**The intercom crackled to life.“Admiral, we have visitors,” Lt. Rojas told them from the control room.**

**Chip and the admiral looked at each other.“You know about this?” Nelson asked.**

**Morton shook his head.“No, Admiral.”He reached for the mike.“Who is it, Miguel?” he asked.**

**“Admiral Starke requesting permission to board, sir.”There was a pause and a little unrecognizable background noise.“Admiral Starke on board, sir.”**

**Nelson cursed under his breath.“Just what we need.And this was the one time I was willing to follow Doc’s orders.”He looked into Morton’s tired face and then shrugged.“Well, let’s go and see what the man wants.”He locked the timepiece into a foam-padded safe.**

**“You haven’t told him what happened to Lee, have you, sir?” Morton asked as they walked out of the lab.**

**“No, Chip.I haven’t even told him about Pem.”**

**“Oh.”**

**That was an understatement, Nelson thought.There was more packed into that one sound than in the entirety of his last doctoral thesis. The only people who knew about Lee’s disappearance and/or about Pem’s activities were the men on the _Seaview,_ a few trusted personnel at the Institute, and Admiral Johnson, the head of the Office of Naval Intelligence.The last had been a necessity when ONI had wanted Lee to do an undercover job for them a month ago.Otherwise, they had been lucky and had not had to make too many excuses.Now, though, it seemed that everything was going to hit the fan.Despite the fact that the admiral was one of Nelson’s closest friends, Jiggs Starke was like a ferret. He admired not only what Nelson was doing with the _Seaview,_ but also the young captain who had once had the temerity to defy not only Starke, but also a very sick Nelson during a more than mundane mission several years ago.And if Jiggs thought something was being hidden from him, he would dig until he found out what it was. _Oh, well_ , Nelson thought as they climbed the ladder that led to the control room.Starke could also be the best ally the Institute and Harriman had when the political fires heated up unbearably.When Nelson and Morton reached the control room, the tension was palpable.Admiral Starke was standing by the periscope island in stiff fury, while the crew was tensely and silently waiting for their boss to rescue them from the promise of certain death.**

**Starke took one look at Nelson and Morton and then raised an eyebrow.With characteristic bluntness, he said, “Harry, you look like hell.Will you tell me what’s going on here?”**

**Harriman took a deep breath.“If you will follow me to the ‘front porch’ I will.”Nelson turned to Rojas.“Lieutenant, please send someone from the galley with a fresh pot of coffee. And close the collision doors when we’re inside.”Turning back to the admiral, he asked, “Jiggs, can you send your transportation home?When you are ready, I can have Chief Sharkey take you back in the Flying Sub.”**

**Starke nodded, then looked around.“Where’s Captain Crane?”Again, that gruff bluntness.**

**“That’s part of what we need to talk about,” Nelson said, settling his aching body into one of the observation room chairs.He gazed out the herculite windows and was shocked to realize that this was the first time he had visited this part of the sub in almost three months.**

**=========================**

**Lee went farther out this time, probably a half mile before he decided that Diego was going to have six different litters of kittens worrying about him.And to be very honest, he was a bit more tired than anyone this far out had the right to be.This time he didn’t try to test the depth.That would have taken more energy and breath than he needed to expend at this time.Maybe their next trip.The moon was beginning to sit on the shoulders of the ocean horizon as he swan steadily for shore.The captain was helped in his journey by the strong current that carried the waves toward the beach.With his rhythm established, Crane didn’t stop to see how close he was until he could hear the booming of the surf on the northern rocks.**

**When he could almost touch the bottom, he paused, treading water and listening.Something was amiss.He couldn’t tell why he felt that way, but he did.He kept his head barely above water and continued to listen.He heard the whinny of horses, some clinking and creaking of metal and leather tack.It wasn’t just his horse and Diego’s.There were more people on the shore and if so, they were most likely soldiers.**

**With cautious deliberation, Lee took a deep breath and then swam underwater further north along the shore, hoping all the while that Diego hadn’t been detained and that the moonlight hadn’t betrayed his own presence in the ocean.He swam for a while and then listened again.The soldiers were laughing loudly.They had confiscated his clothing and were making jokes about how the swimmer was going to be so surprised. _Loco_ and _idioso_ were the words he kept hearing.And Diego?What had happened to Diego?Somehow, he didn’t think his friend would have allowed himself to be caught.That would mean that de la Vega would be in hiding as well.Had he taken his horse, too?It was up to him to figure a way out of this mess.The other thing Lee couldn’t do was allow the soldiers to see his back.Even with the moon slipping below the waves, they would still be able to see the scars of his whipping if he came ashore.Oh, and they would love his twentieth century briefs, too, he thought sourly.**

**They had called him idioso.So be it, Lee thought with a sanguine smile.Time to test his newfound language skills and since he was supposed to be a servant relaxing after an errand of mercy, he would try to act the part.He swam a bit closer and then stood up on the sand, only his head and shoulders exposed.“Señores, please, what do you do with my clothes?”**

**“Come out, fool and we will show you.”**

**“No, no, please.Just leave them and let me dress and return to my duties,” Lee called out, trying to sound properly penitent as well as less than cerebral.**

**“Duties?What are you doing out here in the middle of the night?”Lee recognized the voice of the very rotund sergeant of the guard, the one who had called himself Sgt. Garcia.**

**“Oh, señor, I have a large family to feed and as kind as Don Alejandro is to his workers, I cannot feed them all with small pay,” Lee whined, getting into the part.**

**“What does that have to do with swimming in the ocean?That is foolish any time of the day or night.Come ashore, babozo,” Garcia called out.His men, five in all, Lee counted, laughed with their leader.**

**“No, no, señor.I cannot.I am . . . uh, please.I have no clothes on.”At this all of the soldiers laughed.**

**“But why are you out in the ocean?” Garcia insisted.**

**“Oh, but Sergeant, I have been told about the . . . can I trust you?”**

**“What?What have you been told?” Garcia called out, blustering.“Of course you can trust me!”**

**“You will not tell anyone?”**

**“Me?Never!”The other soldiers tittered and weren’t very discreet about it.Crane was having trouble keeping a straight face, too, despite his irritation.Diego had told him about Sgt. Garcia and his inability to keep secrets.**

**“ _Orbe de Oros,_ Sergeant.”**

**“You know where it is?” Garcia was practically wading out into the water to hear his answer.**

**“Somewhere out beyond there,” Lee replied, pointing behind him.“But I have not found it yet,” he said sadly.“I keep trying.”**

**“Come out, foolish one,” Garcia said, exasperated, seeing his chances for riches slipping away.**

**Lee pondered this one.Diego had said that the man was as softhearted as they came, but the sergeant obviously wasn’t softhearted enough to simply leave him his clothes and ride away with his men.One last appeal and then he would just have to swim away.“Oh, señor, please.Only my wife and my mother have seen me naked.”The captain was becoming a bit annoyed as the soldier laughed.They must have a quota of arrests to make, he thought irritably, and there was probably a law against skinny dipping, not that he was technically doing that.**

**He was about to dive back into the surf and try his luck up the coast when he heard Garcia tell his men to mount up.As he breathed a sigh of relief, he heard the sharp scream of a horse.In the first of the pre-dawn light, a large black horse was silhouetted at the top of a rise, about where the coastal highway would be.Diego and Tornado!**

**“Sergeant, you would harass a poor peon?” Zorro called out.**

**“Zorro!” Garcia called out sharply.“To horse!To arms!”The men raced for their horses and mounted.Lee swam closer to shore, gritting his teeth in frustration.If Diego had only waited a few seconds more, then he would have seen that the men were leaving.He wanted to shout to Diego to take off.This was getting dangerous as the men were not only mounted, but several had pistols and the others had muskets.Still Zorro remained in place.Only when the first soldier started after him, did his masked friend pivot and gallop away.The soldiers were right behind him.**

**Lee found his peasant’s clothes scattered around the beach and put them on.He looked among the rocks for his gelding, and finally found him tethered far beyond the high tide mark.Quickly, he grabbed the reins and then led his mount toward the open beach.Pausing to listen for the soldiers, he only heard the distant report of a musket.Lee cringed, hoping that the soldier's aim was as bad as he had been told it was.When it was apparent that everyone had left, Crane turned the horse in the direction of the de la Vega hacienda, mounted and then kicked the horse into a trot.It reluctantly lumbered down the road, and the captain, in his anxiety for his friend, kicked the horse into a faster gait.Then he realized that since this was a fairly well used road, he might run into patrols.Even clothed, he didn’t want to chance being caught by any of the soldiers.Added to that was the fact that the dawn was close at hand.**

**Grudgingly, Lee slowed the gelding and then guided him off of the dirt track, walking the horse roughly parallel to the well-traveled road.It was full dawn by the time he reached the area he knew the secret cave to be in.It was at this time that he understood why Diego had succeeded for the five years he said he had been doing this.He could no more tell where the entrance of the cave was than he could conjure _Seaview._ Of course, even if he had been able to see the cave, he wouldn’t have gone into it now.Not being familiar with this area, Lee couldn’t risk someone seeing him disappear into a secret place.**

**He considered his options and decided that the best way was to just return the horse to the hacienda as though he had found it wandering the hills.With that decided, Crane guided the gelding back to the direct trail toward the entrance of the hacienda.He saw the stables on the side and rode toward it.A peon stable hand came out and stared as Lee approached.Pulling the brim of the straw hat a bit lower, Lee nodded and then dismounted.It helped a great deal that he hadn’t shaved for a couple of days in preparation for this latest excursion.“This is one of Don Alejandro’s horses,” he said in a low voice.“I found him late yesterday evening and brought him back first thing this morning.”**

**“Gracias,” the stable boy said, taking the reins.**

**Now that Lee had returned the horse, he wasn’t sure what custom dictated next.He didn’t know if he should just turn and walk away, demand a reward, or ask for breakfast.Taking a breath, he did the latter.“It is a long walk back home.Would I be able to get a little breakfast?”**

**“Oh, of course, señor.Go into to the kitchen, please,” the young man said, pointing toward an open door.**

**In all fairness, Lee felt his stomach rumbling and having had de la Vega food for the past month, didn’t regret his decision to beg for breakfast one little bit.**

**“I would have offered,” the young peon added, “But Don Alejandro has been very upset this morning for some reason and, well….”**

**“I understand,” Lee said, not totally understanding, but not liking what those words might portend.**

**The cook gestured him toward a table and then handed him a plate with enough to tide him over for some time.It was while he was finishing up that Bernardo rushed in, took one look at him and then motioned Lee to follow.The cook didn’t bat an eyelash.Apparently Bernardo was in charge of the servants and they didn’t question him.Crane murmured his thanks to the cook, got up and followed the manservant.**

**Bernardo took him into the library and then after closing the door, rushed toward the mantle, pushed the latch that opened the secret door and then shoved Lee through it.**

**“What’s wrong, Bernardo?” Lee asked when the door had closed behind them.Bernardo made several pantomiming motions and the American felt his heart sink.Diego had been shot.“Take me to him.”**

**Bernardo motioned that Don Alejandro was with him and shook his head at Crane’s suggestion.**

**“Bernardo, I am no doctor, but I do know first aid—modern first aid.Maybe I can help,” Lee insisted, sick at what his insistence at getting out might have caused.**

**Bernardo hesitated, but finally shrugged and led the way down the steps toward the secret cave.In the area where he had lived for the past several weeks, Crane saw Don Alejandro tending to Diego.The younger man was sitting up, but it was apparent that he was in great pain.From experience, Lee empathized.**

**Alejandro looked up, saw him and barked out an order to Bernardo.“Get him out of my sight!”**  
  
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	6. New Page 1

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**A Matter of Time**  
  
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**Chapter 6**

**Bernardo tried to get Crane to leave, but the American shook him off.He dashed down the steps and began to examine Diego’s wound.Alejandro sucked in an enraged breath, and pushed him away.**

**“I can and will take care of my son!”** ****

**“I know you can, Don Alejandro, but sometimes we all need a little help to take care of those we care about,” Lee said.He felt the guilt of Diego’s injury as much or more than he had ever felt on _Seaview_ over a crewman’s injury, mainly because he knew his actions had directly and deliberately brought his new friend to harm.However, he would not let that or the older man keep him from doing what he knew he could do to help right now.“I know some first aid from my time.I can help with Diego’s wound.”**

**“I do not know what or who you are, anymore, señor.Your actions have brought my son to great harm, more than you can imagine.It is fortunate that Bernardo was able to obliterate some of the blood that my son trailed here, or the soldiers would already have him in the carcel.Leave me to take care of Diego.”** ****

**Lee was undeterred.He saw that Diego’s wound wouldn’t be life threatening unless, of course, they couldn’t stop the bleeding.He turned to the angry patriarch.“I offer no excuses for my part in what has happened, sir.I do offer my services to help Diego overcome his injuries.Or do you have a trusted doctor who can come and care for him?” he asked point blank.**

**There was a momentary pause.Alejandro was almost shaking with rage, then he visibly deflated.“No, I do not have a trusted doctor.”**

**“Father, they simply got lucky this time,” Diego said suddenly.“This was no different than any of the other times I have gone out as Zorro.Let Lee help.It is not life-threatening; it’s just my arm.”**

**“Maybe not life threatening,” Alejandro growled.“But it will be when Ruiz hears about this.He has already been suspicious and nosing around like some tenacious dog.I think he figures you to be Zorro, Diego.”** ****

**“I know.”Diego’s answer was part sigh, part resignation.Lee knew that it was not all a reaction to the effects of his wound.**

**“I did not,” Lee said tersely, carefully pulling away the bloody material near the top of Diego’s right arm.From the condition of his shirt, Crane could see that his friend had bled quite a bit on his ride home.No wonder the mozo had to go out and hide evidence.He remembered his own wound when he was in Venice.The worst of his had been the infection he had received from having to swim in the dirty waters of the city canals.“But first we have to take care of your wound and then we can figure out how to deal with Ruiz.”The ball seemed to have penetrated from the back and exited from the front.He said as much and then turned to Bernardo.“Hot water, Bernardo.Boiled if you can get it that way.And clean bandages.What do you have in the way of cleansing agents?”** ****

**Bernardo nodded and indicated that he would gather what he could.**

**Lee turned his concentration to the still bleeding wound.Not an artery, thank goodness, but still….Diego looked pale and seemed lethargic, though thankfully, not shocky.He felt along Diego’s shoulder and upper chest.The younger man sucked in his breath in pain, but didn’t flinch.**

**“What are you doing?” Alejandro asked, still belligerent, but not unaccepting of his help.**

**“Diego has bled quite a bit already.I am trying to find a pressure point in case we cannot stop the bleeding with direct pressure to the wound.Are there any clean bandages to use while we wait for Bernardo?”**

**To his credit, Alejandro only paused a second and then sprang into action.“I will get a clean shirt from Diego’s room.”** ****

**“Good,” Lee said, holding a lantern closer and examining the wound.The worst of the bleeding was coming from the back of Diego’s arm.When Alejandro was gone, Lee asked, “Can you move your arm, Diego?When I checked, it didn’t feel as though any bones were broken, but I couldn’t be sure.”** ****

**“That was the first thing I wondered about, but my arm seemed to move fine when I was riding back home, although it hurt considerably.”**

**“Hmm, that is one good piece of news.Now what did your father mean about Ruiz?”** ****

**“Evidently there are notes from previous comandantes.Ruiz has asked several people about my activities or whereabouts when Zorro was around.I guess if the soldiers suspected I had been shot, the capitán will be out here in a flash to see if I am wounded.”**

**“Did they give any indication that they knew?” Lee asked, concerned.** ****

**“Yes, one of them shouted something to the others about hitting me.I did not think he was that close, but then there was no ricochet sound to indicate otherwise.”** ****

_**This is not good**_ **, Lee thought. _That damned Ruiz is a bulldog_.He remembered his own experiences with the man.He had been in this time and place for almost a day before he came across the patrol—the one with Ruiz in personal command.The shock of the time transfer, lack of water and exposure to the heat had made Crane realize that he would not survive very long without some kind of help.His feet had already been bruised and bleeding, he not having had his shoes on in the transition.When the men had approached him, Lee had realized from the dress and language an approximation of where and when he probably was.Still, he figured that he would get at least minimal consideration.He had been wrong.From his somewhat meager command of the Spanish language, Lee had picked up that Ruiz had considered him some kind of vagrant or bandit.He had to pause and mentally laugh at that one.No complete uniform, no sidearm, tired, sore, sweaty and totally wiped from the heat of the sun and Ruiz thought he was some kind of bandit?What a joke!When the comandante had started slapping him around, Lee clammed up and only gave his name, rank and serial number.That had been a mistake, he realized quickly.If Ruiz had thought him a threat before, he really loved the idea that he was some kind of spy or something equally dangerous.While the interrogations from that time on seemed amateurish compared to what some of the despots of Lee’s day could do, they nevertheless began to take their toll.Lee had come to realize with painful clarity what a cat o’ nine tails could inflict upon a man.When Diego/Zorro came and rescued him, he had not been sure how much longer he could last….** ****

**“When you three get me bandaged, it will probably be better if I simply leave,” Diego said, breaking into Crane’s reverie.“It would be a buying trip to San Diego or Santa Barbara.”** ****

**“You are not going anywhere.At least not for a while,” Lee growled, knowing that Diego needed at least a day or so to recuperate from the blood loss—and any possible infection.“We will worry about Ruiz if we need to.In the meantime, we will get you cared for.”He glanced up the stairs, wishing he could hurry the two men up.With no warning, Lee placed his hand against the worst part of the wound and pressed.**

**Diego hissed in pain, but didn’t say anything.Lee explained.“Pressure to try to control the bleeding.I would prefer to have a bandage, but hopefully this will help,” Lee explained.“I knew it was risky for you to be Zorro and to constantly dance with danger like you do, but I was unaware how close an enemy had come to figuring all of this out.I am sorry, Diego, for pushing you to take me out like that.I can’t imagine why I was so irresponsible.”** ****

**“Lee, I have continually wondered how I would react if I was snatched from my home and time, my family and friends, and placed somewhere totally foreign and strange,” Diego said softly, even as Lee continued to apply pressure to the wound.“And I think I would not have done as well as you have.I have never adapted well to confinement and this cave would be confinement if I had to stay in it long.”** ****

**“Gracias, Diego,” Crane murmured.“Still, we have to think of a way to neutralize Ruiz.”** ****

**Before Diego could respond, Alejandro came clattering down the steps, a small bundle of white in his hands.“A shirt,” he puffed.“It is clean.”** ****

**Crane nodded.“If you could tear it into wide strips and then fold two of them into bandages, I would appreciate it.That will do until Bernardo can bring down his supplies to clean the wound.Infection is what I most worry about.”He looked at the two men.“I have gone through this myself.”** ****

**Alejandro raised an eyebrow.“You have?”** ****

**Lee took the bandage that the de la Vega patriarch handed him.“Yes, I have been in a bit of trouble during my Navy days.Made a few enemies, too.”Carefully, he pulled his hand away and then, with Don Alejandro’s help, pressed bandages, front and back and bound them on with another strip, making it tight enough to control the bleeding, but not so tight as to be overly restrictive.** ****

**Within an hour, Bernardo had come with medicines and bandages and the wound had been cleaned and rebandaged.Diego rested quietly against the stone wall of the cave fighting sleep.**

**“I have to agree with my son.Leaving, as hard as it would be on him, would be best.And quickly, as it is already daylight.”** ****

**Lee had been pondering while helping Bernardo clean the wound.“I don’t think so.”All three men looked at him.**

**Diego pulled himself from his lethargy to study his American friend.“Why do you say that, Lee.I have done it before and then Bernardo has appeared as Zorro to allay suspicion.”** ****

**“But has it entirely allayed suspicion?” Lee asked pointedly.“First, I think you should be in bed, my friend, then I have a theory on a way to take care of Ruiz.”** ****

**“Short of assassinating him?” snorted Alejandro.He had calmed quite a bit since his initial bitter outburst.**

**Lee smiled.That would solve most of the problem, but that wasn’t his style and despite their jokes, he knew it wasn’t Diego’s and Don Alejandro’s either. “No, but you will have to trust me on this.”** ****

**Diego frowned.He didn’t have any idea what the Americano had in mind, but there was something in Crane’s amber brown eyes that he didn’t like.“No, I will do this my way.I will go and prepare for a trip. The servants will see me leave in the greatest of health.Lee, I think that you should join me on the trip to San Barbara.That way we can both stay out of the comandante’s reach.”** ****

**Lee doubted that Ruiz would be undeterred.Somehow, he also believed that if the Mexican captain thought that Zorro had been shot, he would be at the de la Vega hacienda as soon as he could.He didn’t say that, though, and he didn’t argue the point.If Ruiz did what Crane thought he’d do, it wouldn’t matter.**

**=========================**

| 

_SSRN Seaview_  
  
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**“So what you’re saying, Harriman, is that you want _Seaview_ released from future missions until you can test the time device and locate Captain Crane,” Starke said with a shake of his head.“I like the boy as much as you do, but you know you can’t use up government expenditures on something so tenuous and risky as that.You also know that the Naval department won’t give you funds for unexplained excursions and you won’t release any information on this device.”**

**“I can’t, Jiggs.This type of technology is beyond dangerous and if someone else caught wind of it, and snatched it, the balance of power would be skewed all to hell.Just think what one of our enemies could do with this.Pem almost did.”He paused.“But I have to at least make an attempt to find Lee.”**

**Starke paced the width of the observation deck.“I know and I don’t blame you.I wish you could take a hammer and smash that thing right now after what you told me.”Nelson started to say something, but Starke cut him off with a wave of his hand.“Harriman, I know.I can give you a month, maybe two.You’ve been refusing assignments and requests for the past couple of months anyway, so _Seaview_ is carrying a lighter workload than usual.You also realize that two months of operating the boat from your own pocket will almost bankrupt you.Even with the scientific work going on at the Institute, _Seaview_ is your cash cow as well as your crowning achievement.”** ****

**Under normal circumstances, Nelson would have bristled at Starke’s assessment of his Gray Lady, but in a crude way, it was true and right now he didn’t feel up to arguing the little points anyway.“It doesn’t matter, Jiggs.It really doesn’t.I wouldn’t be able to carry on with anything if I didn’t at least make an attempt.”He took a tired breath.“And I don’t think the crew would either.Several of the crewmembers have already told me that they would waive their pay on any missions to find Lee.”** ****

**Starke nodded as he gazed intently into his friend and colleague’s eyes.“I only ask one thing.”**

**“What’s that?”** ****

**“You allow me to join you on your quest.I have a couple of months of accrued leave and I would like to be part of this.”** ****

**Harriman smiled wanly and laid his hand on Starke’s shoulder.“Thanks, Jiggs.It would be a privilege to have you by my side.But there are no guarantees.This is still a very risky endeavor.We could blow ourselves up rather than travel through time.”** ****

**“Well,” Starke said with a soft chuckle.“I can’t think of a better way to go.The first thing I want you and your exec to do, though, is to go and get some serious sack time.”** ****

**“Aye, aye, sir” Nelson said, his eyes showing more humor than they had since the day Lee had disappeared months ago.It felt good to have someone to help, even if it was only moral support.**

**Two days later, the three men again sat in the observation room, their heads bent over the charting table, mugs of cold coffee holding down recalcitrant odds and ends of paper.**

**“So what do you have, as far as ideas where to take the first ‘trip?’ ” Starke asked.**

**“Not much, although I tend to think that Pem wouldn’t have had time to get really creative as to a place.I think he would have been nasty enough to make it close geographically, but still inconvenient or downright dangerous for Lee to survive.”**

**“So you are thinking United States?”** ****

**“The land mass, anyway.”** ****

**“Inhabited or non?” Starke asked like a schoolteacher giving a quiz.** ****

**“Going pretty far back if we say non-inhabited, but that is a thought.Difficult to stay out of reach of some of the animals that are thought to have lived during those eras,” Nelson replied.He almost cringed as he said the words.When they did get into the temporal vicinity of where Lee was dumped, would they find him still alive?“Well, right now, we just need to test my job of watch repair and then we can continue brainstorming.”** ****

**“Orders, sir?” Morton asked, straightening up.**

**“Take us out ten miles and then bring us to the surface, Chip,” Nelson responded.**

**“Aye, aye, sir.”Everyone quickly responded.The tension was palpable; Nelson had already apprised the crew as to what was happening, giving anyone who wanted to the opportunity to stay ashore.Not one of the men chose to do so.**

**When the giant submarine was rocking gently on the surface of a calm sea, Nelson did his final checks.This time he would only take the _Seaview_ back in time, not displace her geographically as Pem had done.At least that was what he hoped would happen.During the reassembling of the timepiece, he had learned a great deal and felt he could separate the two actions.**

**“Ready, Harriman?” Starke asked quietly at his shoulder.** ****

**Nelson nodded and pulled the watch from his pocket.Placing it in the cradle he had made for it, one that also provided a direct conduit to the power of the reactor, he looked back at Chip, manning the con and waiting for his orders.“General quarters, Mr. Morton.We’re going to test it.”** ****

**“Aye, sir,” he said, almost inaudibly.Then louder, “Sound general quarters.”Claxons blared, but Harriman ignored them as he worked the controls of the timepiece.Suddenly they were jerked as though manipulated by a giant hand, a feeling of nausea swept through him along with a seemingly oppressive change in gravity.Nelson grabbed onto the edge of the table and hung on as his vision swirled and darkened.**  
  
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**[A Matter of Time One](http://www.bookscape.net/voyage/matter1.htm)**  
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	7. A Matter of Time

A Matter of Time

**A Matter of Time**  
  
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**Chapter 7**

**His vision cleared and Harriman looked out of the observation windows.Everything seemed as before.The sky was blue and almost cloudless and the sea was calm.“Injury and damage report, Mr. Morton?”**

**Morton called over the intercom for both.“No structural damage,” came the answer after a moment to check systems on the computer.After several more moments, it became apparent that the uncomfortable effects were manifestations of a temporal displacement or the attempt at one.**

**Nelson strode into the hub of the control room with Starke right behind him.“Any indication of when we are, Chip?” he asked.He had attempted to set the watch for a hundred thousand years in the past.It would at least be easier to check to see if they had actually gone anywhere . . . or rather any-when.**

**“No sir, although the instruments are picking up more activity in the ocean,” the executive officer reported.“And there is absolutely no radio, or any other kind of activity, on the airwaves, sir.”He was smiling his pleasure.**

**It probably echoed what he was feeling, Harriman thought.“Sonar readings of the ocean floor, Kowalski.”**

**“Working on it, Admiral,” the rating reported, almost immediately.“From what I have seen so far, it would appear that you did it, sir.We are in the past.”He, too, was grinning.“The contours of the ocean floor are different as are the coastline features I can make out.”**

**“You did it, Harriman.You did it,” Starke said, his voice hushed in awe.He turned and looked outside the observation windows.The part of the window that was underwater showed shadowy distant objects slightly more exotic, perhaps larger than he was used to seeing in his own time.Several of those objects came closer.Sharks.And there were differences!**

**Nelson could only nod.“Let’s crack the hatch topside.I need a breath of fresh air.”Several of the men rushed to do his bidding and soon Nelson and Starke were standing on the conning tower breathing in air untainted by factory emissions or other pollutants.**

**“My congratulations,” Starke said softly as he watched his friend light up a cigarette with slightly trembling fingers.**

**“Thanks, Jiggs, but I suspect that we have just done the easy part.Now we have to figure where to look.”**

**Starke didn’t bother to correct Nelson’s use of the word ‘where.’They both knew what was ahead of them.What Starke was worried about was whether they could figure out the answer before the funds ran out.If not?Mentally shaking his head, Starke decided not to even go down that path right now.If anyone could find the proverbial needle in a haystack, it would be Harriman.**

**=============================**

**Alejandro and Bernardo had escorted Diego up the steps to the secret room and practically forced him to the bed to rest while they gathered belongings for a trip.Despite his best efforts, Diego was unable to stay awake.Alejandro announced, “I think it would be wise if we left now.”His voice sounded odd, almost fearful and Lee could only think that the old don had figured out the same thing that he had.**

**“We?” Lee asked, not having heard the older man say he was going.**

**“Yes, I have decided, as I had discussed with Diego several days ago, to go with him to Santa Barbara to check out the new bulls and stallions,” said Alejandro with a tight smile.“We have done this before, so it is not unknown.”**

**At Bernardo’s touch, Diego stirred and sat up, groggy, not only from the injury, but also from lack of sleep.He was soon on his feet, though, standing quietly while Bernardo buttoned on a clean shirt.He reached for his vest, but the mozo motioned for him to sit down and allow him to do the work.The vest came next, then Bernardo brought out an appropriate pair of calzoneros, easily slipped on because the buttons were all undone.The outer jacket was last and then Bernardo pulled on the boots.**

**“Go down and tell the servants to quickly pack pouches food for us,” Alejandro finally said to the manservant.“And to saddle horses for three of us.”**

**“Four of us.These hats hide facial features and if there are patrols out, it would be better for me to be with your party rather than alone,” Lee said matter-of-factly.There was another reason for his strong suggestion.Somehow, he didn’t think they were going to get away so easily.**

**Alejandro’s countenance grew stormy again.“And being caught with Diego would further implicate him.”**

**“True,” said Crane, “Unless you had the right alibi.And I believe I do.”**

**“Captain, when Diego said you should accompany us to Santa Barbara, I thought that meant you would be joining us later, not ride with us.”**

**“You will have to trust me on this one, Don Alejandro.I think it will be much better this way than if I was wandering alone in the wilderness, which I would be.I don’t know your country.”**

**Diego, like his father, didn’t like the idea of Lee coming with from the hacienda.It would bring more attention to the American, but the captain had brought out a very viable concern.He wondered just what Lee’s plan was, and was uncomfortable with unknown factors, but right now he was just too tired and their time was too tight to ask.“He’s right, Father,” Diego said as the two men seemed to be trying to stare each other down.The young don could see the captain’s command presence in his bearing as well as in his assertive and self-confident words.“Lee has been sequestered for almost a month and unable to become familiar with our area.We could give directions that are totally familiar to us, but would be meaningless to him."** ****

**“Harumph,” grumbled the older man, before he threw up his hands.“All right.”**

**“By the way, Don Alejandro, you might want to look like you have been up and freshly dressed for this trip,” Lee suggested as Bernardo turned to leave.“And I will do the same.”**

**The hacendado gazed at his rumpled and stained clothing and shook his head at his oversight.He left the room and the two men heard the door of his bedroom open and then close.Lee quickly shaved and then looked into Diego’s wardrobe.“Any of this something you haven’t worn for a while?” he asked.**

**Diego pointed out a suit that was not quite as flashy as what he was wearing, but sufficiently dashing enough to let Lee pass as a caballero.That, too, would fit with what he had in mind.Despite his frustration with all the buttons on the pants, Crane was soon dressed.**

**Even as Diego stood in front of the mirror, they heard Alejandro’s door open again.The don joined them and he and Diego hastily put together a story that would also explain Lee’s presence.Then Alejandro left again to make sure everything was ready.Diego smiled as he brushed his hair left-handed.“So far we have been fortunate,” he said, as he finished and put the brush down.**

**“I hope it continues,” Lee murmured, feeling the pinch of anxiety that he experienced whenever he began a mission.A mission….Somehow, he felt that this was indeed a mission; no less important than any he had done for the ONI.He only hoped that he was reading the signs and interpreting them correctly.Everything was so foreign and his own knowledge so limited.However, he would trust to luck and hope that his efforts would negate what his carelessness had done.**

**“Shall we go, Captain?”** ****

**“Yes.”Lee opened the bedroom door and watched as Diego made his way out and toward the head of the stairs.While his steps were more deliberate, he seemed sure and confident and Lee’s estimation of the young rancher rose higher.**

**Don Alejandro was waiting.“Ah, Diego, Leandro,” he said in a pleasant tone of voice.“The horses are ready and the day could not be more perfect.Come, before it becomes too hot.We should be able to get to Don Ari’s hacienda before mid-afternoon if we start now.”**

**Lee smiled inwardly.Their hastily prearranged show for the servants was seemingly going off smoothly.And he thought Don Alejandro’s rendition of the admiral’s first name was a nice touch as well.“Uncle will be awaiting your arrival,” he said with a slight smile.**

**They mounted, Diego still able to continue the pretense that nothing was wrong and then rode along the trail that would first take them toward the pueblo and then north to Santa Barbara.Ironic, Lee thought, that they were going toward his home, but not for another hundred and sixty years.It was dry, but not yet hot, even though the sun had been up for a couple of hours.The air was filled with sounds that carried far beyond what they would have in his day, even if they could have been heard over all of the modern hubbub.The tiny rustle of ground squirrels was only slightly muted by the soft clopping steps of the horses’ hooves on the dusty trail.A hawk called above them, another seemed to answer from far off.Still the sounds of the hacienda behind them came to his ears—the singing of the cook, the protest of the horses left behind, a rooster crowing too late to serve any purpose other than his own vanity.The leather gear creaked and the bits jangled.**

**Crane had, at times, stood in the observation room of the _Seaview_ and listened to the sounds the Gray Lady made during her more quiet moments and it sometimes seemed he could almost follow them along the lines of the boat to the next sound and the next, all the way to the mighty propulsion units that allowed the sub to speed through the water.It almost seemed that way now, except these were sounds he had never really known before.A fly buzzed by his ear with startling clarity and then flew ahead to pester his gelding.**

**Still they continued, now in a trot, until they had left all the sounds of the casa grande behind them.Just as the sounds of the pueblo began to come to their ears, they approached the road that would lead toward Santa Barbara.When they turned onto the more northerly route, they saw their way blocked by a contingent of eight soldiers, Capitán Ruiz at their head.**

**“Going visiting, Don Alejandro?” Ruiz asked with a pleased smirk, urging his mount toward them.** ****

**“As a matter of fact, we are, Comandante,” Alejandro said easily.Lee could tell from beneath his lowered hat brim, though, that the older man was nervous.“I have been planning for some time to go to Santa Barbara and check out several new stallions and bulls.If you will let us pass, señor.”**

**Ruiz shook his head.“And you, Don Diego, you do not usually go on these buying excursions.”**

**Diego’s palomino snorted at the approach of the large military stallion.“Usually, you are right, Capitán,” Diego said, his voice pleasant, but his eyes hard.“However, this time I decided to go and visit some friends as well as help my father choose new breeding stock.”**

**Ruiz was now almost side-by-side with Diego.The young don noticed how uncomfortable Sgt. Garcia appeared and wondered how they would get out of this one.He had a ready lie to tell, but no one to back it up.Lee had said something about trusting him with an idea, but somehow, Diego figured it would entail the young American exposing himself to recapture.**

**“Come now, Don Diego,” Ruiz said sarcastically.“I can understand the visiting part, but helping your father?”He was now right next to the hacendado by now.“It couldn’t be because you have been doing something traitorous, would it, and you were trying to run from the consequences?”Then like the strike of a snake, he reached out and punched Diego in the chest.**

**Diego frowned, but didn’t flinch.“Capitán, what cause have you to treat me this way?”**

**Without saying anything more, Ruiz grabbed Diego’s right arm.**

**Diego hissed in sudden pain, but still didn’t pull away.“Unhand me, Comandante,” he said quietly.**

**Lee continued to be impressed, even while feeling the anxiety build.If he hadn’t come to know Diego well the past four weeks, he would not have caught that slight change of facial expression.Alejandro started to protest, but Ruiz waved him off.**

**“Something wrong with your arm, Diego?” Ruiz asked, his voice also snakelike.He loosened his grip, then clasped higher, tightened his grip for several minutes longer and then suddenly let go.With a feral smile he pointed to the small stain that now appeared on Diego’s jacket just where his hand had recently gripped.“I arrest you, Diego de la Vega, for being the bandit, Zorro.”**

**Diego had been reining left-handed, something not normal for the right-handed man.Ruiz had apparently realized that too.The time had come, Lee thought.He began to chuckle, then he laughed out loud.Everyone gaped at him, except Ruiz who continued to study Diego, his eyes flint-hard.**

**Finally as Lee continued to laugh, Ruiz’s steely stare turned to him and his eyes narrowed.“Who are you and why do you laugh?” he barked.**

**“Because what you propose is so outrageous,” Lee replied, still laughing.Even the soldiers, including Sgt. Garcia, were snickering.“Don Diego is many things, but Zorro?You are telling a very good joke, señor.”He slowly pulled his glove from his hand and wiped his eyes as though wiping away tears of mirth.“Besides, why would a wound that I accidentally inflicted on my friend be reason to accuse him as Zorro?”**

**“You inflicted?” Ruiz roared, still staring at Lee.“What are you talking about?My patrol reported wounding Zorro last night, noted blood on the ground.De la Vega stands here wounded.”**

**“Capitán, I was trying to teach Diego how to shoot the pistols.He was hopeless,” Lee continued his tale with an apologetic glance at Diego.“And when I was showing off, I am afraid that I got careless.But today he said he was well enough to ride back with me to my home in Santa Barbara, so here we are.”Lee paused and then looked directly into the captain’s eyes.“He said the atmosphere would be much more conducive to recovery there.”The last was delivered with a tone of deep sarcasm.**

**“You are lying.You never answered my question!Who are you?” Ruiz’s face drew even closer and then his breath hissed between his teeth in surprise.“The Americano!So now I can arrest all of you!”He swung around to face Don Alejandro.“You, Señor Alcalde for harboring a criminal!Zorro—your son—helped him escape and you have been hiding him since.”**

**“Don Diego is not Zorro!Don Alejandro was only doing what was best for his government and his people, Capitán Ruiz.Something more than you thought of doing when I first appealed to you for help out there in the wilderness,” Lee said, his voice deepening to his more commanding tone.“He knew that torturing and eventually killing a foreign citizen, especially a high ranking officer like me, might very well lead to hostilities with a country that has great military resources.Zorro knew that, too.He left me near the de la Vega hacienda and Don Alejandro and his son took me in and nursed me back to health.”Lee drew himself up.**

**Diego found himself at a loss for words at Crane’s audacity.What did his new friend have in mind and how would that help them?Yes, what Ruiz had done to Lee was extreme and uncalled for, but not something that he would be necessarily censured for in Mexico City.The Mexican government distrusted the young United States and many thought with good reason.So what Ruiz had done was not totally out of order.It may have been cruel, but not without merit, at least in the eyes of many of the politicians in Mexico City.So what was Lee Crane trying to do?**

**“I am a Commander in the United States Navy.Until I was shipwrecked, I was captain of a great vessel with a large complement of men,” Lee declared.**

**The American’s voice was one that Diego figured would make any sailor cringe.Even Garcia and his men were gaping in awe.It now took on a deadly tone.**

**“I am an officer and a gentleman.You, Capitán Ruiz, are an officer, but you are no gentleman.”Lee took the glove and slapped Ruiz across the face.“I demand satisfaction!” he thundered.“On the field of honor!”**

**For a moment, even Ruiz couldn’t say a thing.**  
  
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	8. New Page 1

New Page 1

**A Matter of Time**  
  
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**Sgt. Garcia**  
  
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**Chapter 8**

**Ruiz stared at Crane in disbelief, then he began to laugh.“You are joking, no?”** ****

**“No!” Lee answered, his voice deadly serious.“I do not believe that Mexico has outlawed dueling, has it?”** ****

**“But you are a foreigner and my prisoner.”** ****

**“You took me without just cause, Capitán, and for that I demand honorable satisfaction,” the American insisted.Suddenly Crane leaned forward on his horse, and Ruiz couldn’t help himself, he drew back a few inches before he realized what he was doing.Lee pressed his slight advantage.“Or are you afraid I might just be better than you?”** ****

**Ruiz’s dark eyes snapped coldly and he sucked in a hissing breath.“I am no coward, Americano.”He drew himself up.“Very well, I will continue this charade with you, if nothing else, then to show everyone here that any Mexican soldier is better than an United States officer’s dog.Of course, this combat will have to take place in the cuartel.”A sly look crossed his face.**

**“Why?” Crane asked pointedly, knowing full well the advantage Ruiz was after.Lee had not fired any of this time period’s firearms, but was good enough with weapons of his day to feel confident if Ruiz chose pistols.And while he had not but recently learned to fence, he was confident of Diego’s abilities as a teacher to not overly worry about that option, either.As to hand to hand combat, he would sincerely like to wipe the floor with the insolent and cruel comandante.“You have a sword, Don Alejandro has a sword.You have a pistol.So, too, does Don Alejandro.And of course, if you wish hand to hand combat, then I am equipped for that as well . . . or anything else you have in mind.”** ****

**“My lancers have brought their lances,” Ruiz said softly after a moment of deliberation. “That is my choice of weapons.”**

**Crane was taken aback.He had watched reenactments of medieval jousts, but had never taken part in anything like it.While he had not considered that option for a duel, he nevertheless hid his dismay behind a mask of indifference.“Don Alejandro will be my second,” he said calmly, turning his gelding to face the older man.Ruiz returned to his men.“Any suggestions?” Lee asked quietly, a sardonic twist to his lips.** ****

**Alejandro was flabbergasted.“Are you telling me you have never learned to used a lance?”** ****

**“That is definitely not part of self defense 101 at the Naval Academy,” replied Lee with a resigned shrug.**

**Alejandro shook his head.“What do you hope to accomplish?”** ****

**“I hope to beat him, sir.Do you have any suggestions whatsoever?”** ****

**Diego rode his horse closer until the three mounts were touching noses.The young caballero appeared a bit paler than before but otherwise was holding up well.This would all have to be resolved soon.Lee didn’t doubt that standing here in the rapidly warming morning sun was having an effect on him. “Lee, I still am not totally clear on what you hope to prove with this,” Diego added.**

**“Diego, there is only one way you and I will be left in peace and that’s if Ruiz is beaten in fair combat . . . or dead.”** ****

**“I think my idea was better,” Alejandro said tersely.**

**Lee wasn’t sure what he meant at first, but then remembered the conversation before they left the hacienda.“Right now, I think so, too, and eventually it may come to that.However, for now that is not an option, so again, I ask—any ideas?”** ****

**“Yes, duck,” said Diego.**

**“Duck?”**

**“Yes, obviously you do not want the point of the lance to make contact,” Diego explained.“So if you have to fall off your horse to avoid the lance, so be it.Somehow, I think you would have better luck fighting him on the ground.”** ****

**Crane nodded.It made sense.He remembered his scant knowledge of such an activity and realized that Diego had judged him well.On the ground, such a weapon would be more like a stave and he had been trained in that kind of combat.He nodded and turned toward the soldiers.“Anytime, Capitán,” he called.**

**“I do not need a second,” Ruiz said with a laugh.“I can defeat you . . . indeed, I can kill you quickly without such formality.”** ****

**Lee figured he hadn’t hidden his surprise as well as he thought he had.“You don’t need anyone to keep you honest?” he asked sarcastically.**

**Ruiz growled and turned to Garcia.“Give him a lance!”** ****

**“Sí, mi capitán,” came the quick response.The large man took a lance from one of his soldiers and urged his equally large horse over to the American.“Capitán Crane, your weapon,” he said loudly.“It has a slight bend to one side, señor,” he added more softly.** ****

**Lee was astonished and he said nothing for a brief second.Then, softly, with gratitude, he said, “Thank you, sergeant.”** ****

**Garcia returned to his contingent without further comment.**

**Crane looked over his weapon.It was almost eight feet long, almost equally the same diameter the entirety of its length.It was made of sturdy wood, not meant to break easily.He almost shuddered, imagining what such a weapon could do on contact with human tissue.Holding it up straight out in front of him, Lee sighted down its length.Indeed, the sergeant was right.He wondered why Garcia would do this for him and could only conclude that his slight impressions of the overweight soldier when he was in the carcel were correct.The sergeant of the guards was nothing like the man who commanded him.Garcia had seemed almost apologetic and solicitous when he had received his last whipping, giving him extra water at the time.If he made it through this insane endeavor, he would have to thank the man.** ****

**“Watch his horse, Lee, and especially watch Ruiz’s eyes,” Diego said softly, then moved back at a motion from his father.His hazel eyes were filled with concern that greatly superceded the pain of his wound.**

**“Do I need to explain the rules of engagement?” Ruiz said contemptuously.** ****

**“Might be a good idea, since they do it a bit differently in the United States,” Crane said easily, knowing that his not taking the bait would make Ruiz even angrier.He was right.The capitán almost spat out the next words.** ****

**“We will take our places a distance of twelve horse lengths,” Ruiz barked.“We will face each other and when Sergeant Garcia shouts for us to go, we will cross the distance and . . . and then you will lie dead in the dust, Americano.”** ****

**Lee laughed lightly, although he felt very much less than light-hearted.“I think you are getting ahead of yourself, Ruiz.”He hoped that he would get one run through before he decided just how he was going to best his opponent.“However, since I am just an ignorant backwoods Yankee sea dog, why don’t you show me how it is done here in California.”As Ruiz’s frown deepened into a grimace of rage, Crane was gratified to see some of the soldiers hiding quick smiles.**

**Ruiz jerked his horse’s head savagely enough to make the animal squeal in pain, grabbed a lance from one of the soldiers, and rode down the trail the proscribed distance.“This is the way it is done, _perro_.”And he spurred his stallion forward, the lance instantly snapped down into attack position and his body braced over it.Ruiz thundered past close enough for Lee to feel the wind of his passing, but he didn’t move, only watched carefully.Crane didn’t doubt that Ruiz hadn’t shown everything, but the American saw enough to get an idea of what he might be able to do if Lady Luck was on his side.**

**He and Don Alejandro turned and walked their horses toward the other end of the contest field.When they stopped, Don Alejandro extended his hand.“For what you are trying to do, Capitán Crane, I thank you.May God and the Saints go with you….”**

**Lee nodded.“Because they will be the only ones able to save me from my foolishness, right?”His lips quirked in a slight smile.**

**“The Saints protect idiots and fools, some say,” Alejandro said drolly.Then he pulled his horse away.**

**Crane had to chuckle at that one, but it quickly faded as he turned to face his opponent.He waited tensely, the pole held tightly under his right arm, the slightly bent length held steady and straight.He pulled his feet from the stirrups as surreptitiously as he could, hoping that he could make his idea work.Sgt. Garcia looked nervously from one to the other of the contestants, but said nothing.** ****

**“Give the signal, baboso!” Ruiz shouted to the anxious sergeant.**

**“Go!” Garcia immediately shouted.**

**Ruiz’s horse sprang forward and Lee kicked his gelding forcefully with both heels.Surprised, the horse shot forward so fast that the American almost lost his seat, but he clamped his knees against his mount, tightened his grip on the reins and saddle horn with his left hand and leaned forward.Ruiz thundered toward him, the point of his lance bearing for his chest.Suddenly Lee let go of the reins, took the pole in both hands and jerked the end toward the ground.When Ruiz was still a couple of lengths away, the end of the pole dug into the ground, lifting him from the saddle.It snapped a few seconds later, as he feared it would, but the momentum was still there.Lee finished pushing off the saddle with his right foot and rocketed toward a very surprised Ruiz.Before the comandante could react with his own pole, Lee tackled him, trying to bear him out of the saddle and to the ground.Ruiz’s jacket ripped and Lee lost his grip, sailing over the horse and hitting the ground painfully on his arm and shoulder.Nevertheless, he instantly jumped to his feet, rubbing his shoulder as he reconnoitered.** ****

**Ruiz quickly disengaged from his stirrups, but not before his body was twisted painfully back toward the horse’s rump.The stallion squealed, Ruiz straitened up enough to grab the saddle horn.He regained his seat and ordered another lance.Lee did the same, but did not move toward his horse.Indeed, he wouldn’t have had time to.Ruiz was at his end of the field and positioning the lance for another charge.Crane’s new lance was not quite as stout and he broke off about two feet from one end.He tested the balance and then concentrated on the man now bearing down on him.Dancing from one foot to the other, Lee noticed that Ruiz matched his movements with the point of the lance.At the last second, Crane rolled to one side, thrusting the shorter stick between the stallion’s back legs, hoping he wouldn’t get trampled as he did so.**

**He felt the muscles of his right shoulder wrenching painfully as the horse’s legs pulled the stick out of his hands.It squealed in pain and bucked, and Lee rolled out of the way of the flailing hooves.He didn’t roll far enough, though, and one of the hind feet caught him on the inside of his right leg.Crane was only barely able to see what else was going on through the red curtains of pain that waved across his vision.**

**Ruiz dropped his lance in an effort to hang on, but was unsuccessful.He fell head first, hitting the ground hard.The stallion continued to dance, but otherwise didn’t move from his place.Slowly, the comandante got to his hands and knees.Blood flowed from his nose, but the hate and determination was still in his cold, dark eyes.Lee used the longer piece of his lance to help him to his feet and then to balance on, as he wasn’t able to put weight on his right leg.He suspected that it had been broken.Pain radiated up and down his leg and Lee had to bite his lower lip to keep from crying out at the torment that increased with each movement of his body.**

**Ruiz staggered toward him, bending down to recover his lance.He fell forward to his knees again and then slowly rose to his feet.“I will kill you,” he said, his speech slurred.**

**It was then that Crane realized that the captain had sustained not just a broken nose, but rather a head trauma.Even so, he didn’t know if he could outlast the man.Using the staff, he hopped backward, almost falling down when his foot slid on loose gravel.Ruiz laughed shrilly, still advancing, leaning on his lance as though it was the only thing keeping him up.Indeed, thought Lee, it probably was, just as his was for him.Still, he tried to move backward, out of Ruiz’s way.It was too risky.The ground was strewn with loose gravel.** ****

**“End the duel, Sergeant,” Alejandro called out, moving forward on his horse.“Both men are injured.**

**“No!” Ruiz shouted, his eyes riveted on Crane.“It is to the death!”Still he advanced.When he was six feet away, he suddenly straightened up and swung his lance.**

**Lee put all of his weight and balance on his good leg and threw up the staff in front of him in a defensive move.Ruiz anticipated and without warning, lowered the lance, knocking the staff from Lee’s hands with a blow so powerful that it also connected with the American’s already injured leg.Even as he fell to the ground, Crane cried out in agony.He used his hands to try to roll away from the seemingly demon-possessed comandante, but was not quick enough to avoid the blow to the side of his head.Pain and realization of sure death were obliterated in blessed unconsciousness.**

**========================**

**Diego watched, horror struck, the pain in his arm in the background, as the enraged Ruiz advanced closer on Lee, raising his lance for another blow.Despite the rules of engagement, despite the fact that this was supposed to be an affair of honor between just the two combatants, Diego could not allow Ruiz to beat the unconscious American to death.He spurred his horse forward.His father followed without comment, seemingly with the same thoughts on his mind.**

**As he swung, the capitán staggered again and the end of Ruiz’s lance dug into the ground, throwing the injured comandante off balance.He tottered, regained his footing and shuffled forward a step.Then he looked up, wiped the still flowing blood from his face and gazed into the anxious and bewildered face of Sgt. Garcia.“ ‘Rest ‘im.Hang ‘im . . . ‘ang….”And then to the astonishment of the assembled group, Ruiz pitched forward on his face, the lance clattering by his side.**

**Diego and Alejandro dismounted at the same time and rushed to Crane’s side.“Diego, my son,” Alejandro hissed under his breath.“Let me look at him.Do nothing more to aggravate your injury.”While the son looked on, Alejandro gently examined the fallen American.The leg was bent unnaturally, indicating that it had been broken, just as he had suspected earlier.He felt a large lump on the side of Crane’s head.Alejandro pulled off his jacket and folded it into a pillow, which he gently laid beneath the injured man’s head.He looked up and saw Diego signing to Bernardo.**

**‘Bernardo,’ Diego continued, his fingers flying in quick signs, ‘Also send a servant for Dr. Avila to come to the hacienda.We will wait here for you to return.’** ****

**The mozo fairly leaped upon his horse and was soon racing down the trail.The two hacendados turned their attention toward the sergeant who was standing next to his fallen commanding officer with a dumbfounded look on his face.**

**“How?It is impossible.I cannot….”He looked up helplessly at the watching men.The lancers appeared nervous and indeed, one of them crossed himself.**

**“What is the comandante’s condition, Sergeant?” Diego asked softly.** ****

**“He is dead.But how is that?”** ****

**“He hit his head when he fell, Sgt. Garcia,” Diego said softly gazing at the dead man.“It was only a matter of time.”Then he looked up.“But that means that Captain Crane, for all that he is unconscious, won the duel.”He paused.“What are you going to do now, Comandante?”**

**Garcia looked puzzled and then he shrugged.“What can I do, Don Diego?Captain Crane really did not break any of our laws; he simply had the bad luck to have washed up on our shores.”** ****

**“Indeed he did,” Diego murmured, glancing back down at his American friend.“Then he will not be taken back to the carcel?”** ****

**“No, Don Diego.If you are willing to let him recuperate at your hacienda, I would be grateful.”** ****

**“Of course we are willing,” Alejandro said tersely, moving so that the sun was out of the injured man’s face.**

**Garcia was visibly relieved.He turned to his men and ordered them to carry the dead comandante back to the pueblo.“Will you be all right here while you wait?” he asked Alejandro.**

**“Yes, Sergeant.You go ahead and do your duties.”**

**“Gracias, Don Alejandro.Don Diego.”The body was tied to the still nervous stallion and the men rode off toward Los Angeles.**  
  
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	9. New Page 1

New Page 1

**A Matter of Time**  
  
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**Chapter 9**

**Diego leaned against his horse, suddenly drained of energy.Alejandro saw him and rushed to his side.“Diego, my son, sit down over there in the shade of the tree."**

**Although he would have preferred to stay by Lee’s side, he felt the sun beating down on him, further sucking the energy out of him.He nodded and allowed himself to be led to a shady spot.“Would you be able to move Lee here as well?” he asked when he was more comfortably seated in the cooler shade of the tree.** ****

**“I believe I can.”Gently Alejandro grasped Crane under his arms and began to pull him toward the tree.The American’s sudden cry of pain stopped him.**

**With a moan, Crane opened his eyes and stared up into the old man’s face.“What?How?” he gasped.“I think . . . I would have to . . . feel better to die,” he added.Then things seemed to clarify behind the amber hued brown eyes.“Ruiz?”** ****

**“Dead.You won the duel.Only the Santos know how, but you did, Capitán.”** ****

**“Huh?” Crane asked, feeling he had missed something important.He had trouble comprehending what Alejandro had said.“Dead?But . . . but how?”** ****

**“He hit his head when he fell.”** ****

**“I . . . I remember that, but still….”** ****

**“He collapsed just after he struck you on the head and he just—died.”** ****

**“Oh.”Lee had to stop and think about that revelation and its ramifications.The heat seemed to be swallowing him up.He was so thirsty, and yet his stomach felt queasy.He put his hand to his head to try to ease the pounding, but that didn’t help.Where were the soldiers?“Not under arrest?”** ****

**“No.Sergeant Garcia wisely realized that you had not broken any laws.He has left you to our care,” Alejandro reassured the injured man.** ****

**“Diego?”Crane tried to sit up to look around, but a sudden wave of dizziness prevented any more movement.**

**“I am here, Lee, and I am fine,” Diego reassured him out of his range of sight.**

**Crane remembered something and began to chuckle.Even through the pain he remembered his words to Doc, told to the CMO over and over again, whenever he had been banged up.‘I am fine.’“Um, right, Diego.I have heard that before.Often.”He lay back down and tried to push the worst of his discomfort away.It felt as though everything had been battered, not just his leg.Then again, the leg was enough without the rest.**

**“Bernardo has gone to get a carriage to carry you back to the hacienda, Capitán,” Alejandro informed him.The hacendado was bent over him in such a way as to keep out the sun, which seemed to have jerked almost overhead in the time since they had met Ruiz on the road.**

**“I appreciate . . . what you are doing,” Crane murmured and then darkness overcame him again.**

**Alejandro looked up as he heard the clatter of a carriage or one of the light wagons.Bernardo came into view driving a smaller wagon.Several vaqueros followed on horses.The older man sighed in relief, knowing that he couldn’t have moved the Americano into the carriage without help.“Be careful of his right leg.”** ****

**“Perhaps, Father, you need to put splints on his leg before he’s moved,” Diego suggested.**

**“Yes, that is a good idea, Diego,” Alejandro replied.He began directing the men to find straight sticks, then he noticed the broken lances still strewn on the ground.Diego slowly got up to help.“Diego, let the men do this.You are in no shape to do anything after that foolishness that you and the capitán did with the pistols,” he scolded, trying to keep the illusion of Crane’s alibi in the minds of any who saw Diego’s wound.In the back of his mind was the niggling worry of what to do about the accusation against his son.But that would have to wait.The lances were broken to the right length and Alejandro removed his banda to tie them on.Diego handed him his banda as well.During this procedure, the American remained mercifully unconscious.Gently the men lifted him into the wagon bed, which had been covered with a blanket.“Join him, Diego,” Alejandro ordered his son who was hovering nearby.**

**Diego meekly acquiesced, not only to play the part, but because he was simply too tired to argue.Soon the wagon was back at the casa grande and Lee was carefully carried to the guest room on the ground floor.Diego and Alejandro sat nearby, awaiting the doctor.They didn’t have long to wait.He ordered them from the room while he worked, only requesting a vaquero to assist him.When he came out an hour later, he met the two caballeros in the library.Bernardo handed him a glass of wine.**

**“Ah, gracias,” Avila said with a sigh, taking several sips.He glared at Diego.“It is your turn.”** ****

**Diego looked at his father, slightly alarmed.“It just needs rebandaging.”** ****

**“It needs to be looked at by a somewhat competent physician,” Avila retorted.**

**“How is Capitán Crane?” Diego asked, his concern palpable.** ****

**“The break is just a little above the knee.It was difficult to deal with.I think I got it in place for healing, but I also think there may have been other injuries, perhaps to the knee itself and not so easy to deal with.He will need to stay off of it for some time.I will come by tomorrow and see how he is doing.”** ****

**“We have every confidence in your abilities, Doctor Avila,” Alejandro said softly, taking a sip from his own glass.“I saw what a good job you did with the old governor and he was not at all easy to deal with.”**

**“His break was simple and he had his headstrong daughter to keep him in line.But time will tell.Your friend is young and he seems to be very healthy other than this idiocy of a duel that he fought.”Avila took another sip and stared into the rosy hued liquid for a few minutes.“Although, just between you and me, Alejandro, he did the pueblo a great service,” he added sardonically.**

**He couldn’t help it; Diego chuckled.It was a mistake; the doctor looked at him and motioned for him to take off his jacket and shirt.Of course, Diego realized that Dr. Avila would no more have forgotten to check him than he would have forgotten his medical bag.He complied and kept still as the doctor examined his arm and shoulder.**

**“Someone did a fine job of bandaging this.Who?”** ****

**“Capitán Crane, with Bernardo’s help,” Diego said tersely, wincing at even the light handling of the wound.**

**“He has talents that surprise me, but I guess it is as it should be.He is supposed to be a former sea captain, is he not?”** ****

**“Sí, he is,” Diego said truthfully.**

**“And he caused the wound, if I understand correctly, did he not?” Avila asked.** ****

**“Yes.We were worried that Ruiz would eventually find out where he was and so I tried to help him practice with the pistols at night in case of such an inevitability.”**

**Avila snorted.“At night?”** ****

**“Well, just before dawn, Doctor,” Diego said sheepishly.“He couldn’t very well practice in broad daylight.”** ****

**“True, but . . . well, anyway.He did a good job of bandaging.Even Ruiz’s manhandling has not caused any more harm.I will rebandage it and check on it when I return to check on the Americano.”Avila finished working on Diego and then drained his wine glass.He stood up with a sigh.“I suppose it is time to go back to the pueblo and sign the comandante’s death certificate.”He smiled softly.“Somehow, I think it is destined for Sgt. Garcia to act as comandante.”He smile turned into a chuckle.“And I do not think it is such a bad thing.”** ****

**Diego laughed.“I agree.At least he dispenses justice with compassion.”With those words, Avila left and Diego and his father sat silently.When he returned from showing the doctor to the door, Bernardo closed the library door and turned to the two men.**

**“You do know that Zorro will have to ride tonight,” Diego said with a slight smile.** ****

**“As much as I dislike you riding with that injury, you are right,” Alejandro agreed.“So that those who still suspect will see that you are healthy.”** ****

**“Oh, no, Father, there should be some injury.After all, the soldiers were right.”Bernardo poured a little more wine into the glass for both men, but his countenance was one of puzzlement.**

**“Diego, what do you have on your mind?”** ****

**“Simply that Zorro’s injury was to the left shoulder, not the right.I can still use my right arm, although it is stiff and painful.All the good sergeant needs to see is that I can use it and that I am favoring the left.”** ****

**Alejandro considered and then nodded.“Just be careful with your wound.”** ****

**“Oh, I will, Father.I really do not wish for the good doctor to flay me alive when next he comes to visit.”** ****

**Alejandro just chuckled and finished his wine.“Well, right now, you need some sleep.Bernardo or one of the other servants can watch Capt. Crane.”** ****

**“No arguments, there, Father,” Diego said with a yawn.**

**==============================**

**He was in sickbay, but it was too warm.Something was wrong.The bed was wrong, the voices were wrong.It smelled wrong.Wake up!He had to wake up.Something was wrong with _Seaview._ The men, were they all right?Wouldn’t someone tell him what was going on?Crane waded through the morass of a drug-induced mental fog into sharp pain and tight confinement.He wasn’t on the _Seaview_!He must be a prisoner somewhere.The carcel—the past.Then the memories shocked him into full wakefulness and he was finally able to open his eyes to see the flame of a candle on the nightstand next to him, the flickering light dancing merrily with the shadows on the walls.He turned his head and saw, in the dim room, someone sitting in a chair next to him watching him.He heard sounds beyond the room, but couldn’t figure just what they were.“Bernardo?” he mumbled, feeling as though his tongue was stuck to the roof of his mouth.He tried to sit up.**

**The mozo leaned forward, making motions with his hands and forcing him back onto the bed.It was just as well, he felt as limp as a wet rag.Bernardo signed some more and Lee concentrated on what the mute was saying.“A drink?Yes,” he said with a nod, knowing the part that everyone who was aware of the servant’s duel role, had to play.**

**Gently Bernardo lifted his head and held a glass to his lips.It was one of the de la Vega wines, watered somewhat.Regardless, it tasted and felt wonderful and he drank deeply.Then he pondered the fact that he had awakened feeling drugged.“Anything in this other than wine and water?” he asked suspiciously, then signing his query, his mind much clearer now.**

**Bernardo shook his head, then he inquired if Lee was hungry.**

**Somehow the question seemed inane.Why, he didn’t know.Crane looked over the mozo’s shoulder and saw that the door was closed.A window stood half open in front of him.It was dark outside.He couldn’t hear the noise of anyone outside.Was it only the night of this strangely upside down day or a different night to a day?Shaking himself mentally, he stopped that confusing train of thought.Lee felt the currents of pain from his damaged leg ripple through his body, then his stomach responded to the servant’s question in a muted growl.Despite how the rest of him felt, he guessed he was a bit hungry.“What time is it?” he asked softly.“I mean how long have I been out . . . uh, unconscious?”** ****

**Bernardo motioned that it had been more than fifteen hours since the duel.He repeated his previous question.**

**“Oh, a little bit hungry, is all,” Lee said.“But, please, I really would like to sit up a little.”Truth be known, he felt uncomfortable the way he was laying.Maybe it was the leg splinted and bound up to his crotch that made him feel that way.Or maybe it was the ever-present throbbing pain that seemed centered in his leg, but had satellite offices in his head and shoulders.Whatever, he just wasn’t happy laying flat on his back.Bernardo motioned that he could try to put more pillows behind his shoulders.Lee raised himself up awkwardly on one elbow and tried to push himself into something of a sitting position.Bernardo quickly reached behind him and helped.The pain increased, but Lee ignored it, concentrating on the task at hand.Suddenly another hand was helping him and he was reclining more comfortably against fluffed up pillows.**

**Startled, Lee looked into the hazel eyes of his friend.“What the hell are you doing?”** ****

**“Apparently trying to keep you from harm,” Zorro answered with a crooked smile from the side of his bed.“Giving Bernardo a ‘hand’ with you, since you were determined to move around.”** ****

**Lee sighed.“That is not what I meant and you know it.”** ****

**“I had to give credence to the alibi that you began for Diego de la Vega.”** ****

**“Why am I not surprised?”** ****

**Zorro chuckled.“I had a chat with the good sergeant.Zorro has now established that he was wounded in the left arm, which gives your claim of shooting me more credence.”** ****

**“Left arm?”Then he began to laugh, even as uncomfortable as he was.He was able to see the torn left sleeve and the hint of bandage peeking beneath it.“And you figured that convinced Sgt. Garcia?”** ****

**“Of course!He was very solicitous.”Both men laughed softly.Then Zorro sobered quickly.“You will be able to heal without worry of being arrested, Lee.As will I.I have you to thank for that.”** ****

**Lee said nothing for several minutes.“What did the doctor say?”He had vaguely, foggily remembered someone working on him, the leg specifically, and how he had wondered if he was back in someone’s torture chamber.** ****

**“He said you were young and should heal eventually,” Zorro said evasively.** ****

**“You are holding back, Señor Zorro,” Lee said in his best command mode.At his elbow, Bernardo was trying to get him to eat something from a bowl, but he ignored that for the moment.“What did the doctor say?”**

**Zorro didn’t anything for a moment.“He said it was a difficult break, not very far above the knee.He also thought that the knee might also have been damaged, but he wasn’t able to tell.He did say that you had your good health and youth to your advantage.”Zorro paused again.“Lee, you will get well.Just do what the doctor asks you to do.”** ****

**Lee thought of Doc back on _Seaview_ and as much as he appreciated this doctor, he would not allow himself to be caught up in medically unsound practices of the early nineteenth century.Then an ugly thought surfaced.What if it didn’t heal properly and what if the admiral did eventually find him.He still wouldn’t be able to skipper her.With a grimace, he pushed that nasty and discouraging thought away and turned to see what Bernardo offered.**  
  
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	10. A Matter of Time

A Matter of Time

**A Matter of Time**  
  
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**Chapter 10**

**Nelson found himself pacing the short confines of the observation room, trying to relieve his frustrations, which had escalated into a despairingly foul temper.Starke watched without comment.The rest of the crew, including Morton, who was at the con, wisely did the same.Finally, “We’re missing something!” Nelson snapped.“We’ve made how many jumps in time and space?A dozen and a half?Two dozen?We have returned to the scene of Pem’s last crime, we’ve traversed thousands of years.Pem had to have said something to someone.”** ****

**Starke continued to gaze out of the herculite bow windows in deep thought.“Have you asked the men if Pem said anything to them?”** ****

**“Of course, Jiggs!The chief and….”He looked up at his friend with sudden inspiration.“Why the hell didn’t I think of this?Pem wouldn’t have discussed anything, or even let his guard down among the officers or anyone who might feel inclined to come to me or anyone else in the command crew.”Then he paused, his previous upbeat mood deflated slightly.“But still, if he had said something about what he was planning, any of the crew members would have come to me, or the captain, Chip or Sharkey.”** ****

**“Of course they would, but Pem might have muttered something in front of a crew member who seemed less significant to him.It may have even seemed insignificant to whoever was listening; not worth mentioning to anyone else.”** ****

**“We suspend any more time jumps until everyone who was on board at the time of Pem’s last visit has had a chance to be interviewed,” Harriman declared, willing to try anything that might help them find Lee.**

**Several days later, the admiral was again pacing in the observation lounge, this time because of the frustration of having something so within his grasp, but not quite reachable.“Chip, I think we have the clues, but somehow, I am not stringing them together into a solution,” Nelson said to his exec, discouragement heavy in his voice.**

**“Read off what you have again, Commander,” Starke suggested.**

**Every once in a while, Chip noticed the men in the control room glancing their way surreptitiously, as though urging them to come up with an answer.**

**“Well, several men mentioned that Pem seemed interested in Lee and asked questions about him, mainly about the working relationship between him and you, Admiral, as well as whether they liked him or not,” Chip began.**

**Nelson nodded.“Yes, that seemed to be obvious, but not obvious enough at the time to put two and two together.”** ****

**“Harry, there is no way of knowing at the time what Pem had in mind,” Starke commented, as frustrated as his friend.**

**“Most of the men mentioned how stupid such questions had seemed to them,” Chip added, then looked at his list again.“One crewman mentioned hearing Pem ask the skipper how he liked the weather at the base.He wasn’t sure of the answer, but thought the captain had mentioned something about it was fine, except for the heat now and then.”**

**“I think that supports your theory about Lee being close physically, but now to figure the temporal part of Pem’s plan…” Starke said, almost to himself.“We can almost surely count out anytime in the last couple of hundred years.Once the United States took over the Western areas of the continent, Crane would have at least had someone with whom he could communicate.”** ****

**Harriman nodded.“But when would it be most dangerous for him along the west coast?”He gazed at Morton.“Anything else?”** ****

**“Nothing really about the captain, but about the workings of the boat.At least that’s what the men remember most—Pem poking his nose into everyone’s business.And even that was mostly during our first encounter with him.He was pretty busy with his cohort, Benedict Arnold, the second time around.”** ****

**“Admiral?” Lt. Rojas asked.He was standing by the charting table.Harriman hadn’t even seen him approach.**

**“Yes, Lieutenant?”** ****

**“Sir, I . . . uh, couldn’t help overhearing Admiral Starke’s comments and I just thought of something.It didn’t seem important at the time.I’m still not sure if it is.”** ****

**“Miguel, I want to know anything, no matter how trivial it might seem to you,” Nelson said amenably.**

**“Well, sir, I remember during that first encounter with Pem and it was so tense, you know.”Rojas paused and then continued when the admiral nodded his encouragement.“Well, I kind of got frustrated and let loose some pretty nasty language—all in Spanish, of course.But, anyway, the skipper was with me and he, uh, kind of asked me what it meant.He said he knew it wasn’t pretty, but he wasn’t that fluent in Spanish.I was kind of hesitant, you can imagine.”**

**“Go on, Miguel,” Nelson prompted.**

**“Well, while I was getting up the courage to give Captain Crane the equivalents, I noticed out of the corner of my eye, Pem standing there.It was below decks in a corridor.He ducked back around the corner, I guess to avoid being seen.But I did see him and now I’m sure he understood what we were saying. He kind of had that irritating smirk on his face.”Rojas sighed.“I don’t know if it’s important or not, sir.”** ****

**Nelson felt something clamoring in his head and felt that this was something important.Why would Pem be interested to know that Lee wasn’t fluent in Spanish?California.Spanish. _Oh, Lee, forgive me— how could I have been so stupid?_ “Miguel, I think you gave us the missing clue!Do you know when the Spanish colonization period began in California?I can’t seem to remember the dates.”** ****

**“1769, sir,” Rojas said, “Was the date of the establishment of settlements by the Spanish missionaries.The Spanish government relinquished control in 1821 after Mexico declared its independence from the Spanish motherland.”** ****

**“Do you think that Pem dumped Lee in Spanish California?” Chip asked, incredulous.**

**“They were very xenophobic, if I remember my history correctly,” Nelson said, suddenly excited.“It wouldn’t take that much energy to make such a time jump and it would be a dangerous place for Lee.”** ****

**“Well, the government was xenophobic, Admiral, but the people were friendly for the most part,” Rojas pointed out.** ****

**“It would be the government with the power, though,” Harriman pointed out.“And if someone showed up who was not fluent?”He left any further speculation to the imagination of those listening.** ****

**“And there is also that period of time when California was part of Mexico.About twenty years,” Rojas added.**

**Nelson rubbed his chin in thought and began pacing again.He stopped in front of the large observation windows.“I think we have something concrete to work on.And we don’t need to waste time.Even a hundred years leaves a great deal of chance for error.I think we should make an excursion to the beginning of the Spanish era first, then the middle of the Spanish era, the beginning of the Mexican era, the middle, the end and then we can fill in the spaces.Even if we miss by a few months, if Lee is still alive, and if he still has that watch, we should be able to pick up something from it.”He pivoted to face the assemblage in the control room.“We have a rescue to pull off, gentlemen and this time we’re going to succeed.”His voice was even, but everyone could see the excitement that gleamed behind the penetrating blue eyes.And it became their own excitement.**

**==========================**

**Lee watched the doctor unwind the bandages holding on the splints with eager anticipation.The six weeks had been entirely too long for him, even with Diego and everyone else helping to make it more bearable.While the pain had not entirely gone away, some had and he pushed aside the rest as he hobbled around on crutches.He had insisted on being able to get around only a few days after the duel and had cajoled, nagged and generally made a pest of himself until a pair of crutches had been constructed for him.After five days in bed, the limited excursions seemed heavenly.But even without putting any weight on the leg, he could feel that something wasn’t quite right.All during that interminable time, he hoped that he was wrong, that it was just the difference in the injury, but he had been hurt enough to know when something just wasn’t quite right.However, the idea that he might not be able to walk normally after his leg healed was something that he had also pushed aside—vehemently.Lee wouldn’t consider that likelihood, although as time had passed, it seemed a more and more distinct possibility.**

**Now, as Doctor Avila finished, and with Bernardo’s help, pulled away the wooden splints, Lee was anxious.All the fears returned in full force.What if….?What would happen?How could he live here or anywhere if he was crippled?** ****

**“Capitán Crane, I want you to very carefully move around so that you sit on the side of the bed,” the doctor instructed.“Continue to keep your leg straight.I will help you.”** ****

**With a nod, Lee used his arms to lever himself around until he was sitting on the side of the bed.Avila was as good as his word and kept his hand firmly under his ankle.** ****

**“Now, slowly, bend your knee.”** ****

**Lee did so, feeling the tight and unused muscles violently protesting.**

**“How does your leg feel, señor?” Avila asked.**

**“Fine.Fine,” he said quickly.“Can I stand up?”** ****

**“No pain?”** ****

**“Nothing except tight muscles,” he hedged.** ****

**Avila looked at him quizzically and then felt along his injured leg.He frowned when he felt along the lower part of Crane’s right thigh.The muscles jumped involuntarily and Lee bit his lip at the extra jolt of pain that the examination caused him. “I want you to start out using the crutches and only putting a little weight on the leg,” instructed Avila.“It has been six weeks, Capitán.You have to build up strength in that leg again, or you will damage it even worse and then there will be nothing I can do.”** ****

**Bernardo handed him the crutches that he had come to loathe these past couple of weeks.Lee took them and carefully levered himself up.He had gotten quite agile with the things, so no one offered to help him, although the doctor stayed close to his side.Cautiously, Crane swung away from the bed and then carefully began to put a little weight on his liberated leg.Pain messages continued to shoot through his thigh and up his side.He ignored them as he concentrated on being able to get up, walk, do what he had done before all of this happened.He put a little more weight down and the messages became more insistent.**

**“No more, Capitán.It is obvious that all is not healed inside,” Avila said sharply, laying a cautionary hand on his arm.** ****

**“It’s been six weeks!How long does it take?”** ****

**“In your case,” the doctor began hesitantly.“I cannot say.I wasn’t sure if there had been other damage than the broken bone, but there must have been.This must be taken slowly.”** ****

**With a sigh, Lee sat back down and eyeballed his limb as though will alone could make it better.Bernardo tapped him on the shoulder and he looked into the mozo’s anxious eyes.The servant began signing.By now Lee was almost as astute at deciphering Bernardo’s hand signs as Diego was.The mozo was offering to help him rub the atrophied muscles and help him get back in shape.He nodded his thanks.** ****

**“It is too soon to give up, Lee,” Diego assured him.He had been standing by the door quietly, as had Alejandro.**

**Lee sighed.“I know.It just seems as though it has been so long already.”And he knew that Diego understood his dual meaning.Lee wore the little timepiece on a silver chain around his neck at all times, but he was beginning to think that he was asking too much even of the admiral.It wasn’t that Admiral Nelson couldn’t do something like put that other timepiece together, provided it hadn’t been immediately pulverized, but how could Crane assume that the admiral could just drop everything and spend so much time and resources looking for one man.And yet, there was that faint glimmering of hope, that desire that lay at the bottom of his heart and caused the emotion for home to well up and almost choke him.Home—the _Seaview._ Could it be that he might someday see her again?And then reality would crash in, as it was now and he knew he would be here for the rest of his life.Although the de la Vegas treated him like family, there was a part of him that felt just as ripped away as he had been physically when Pem’s device had jerked him off the _Seaview._** ****

**“Lee, give it some more time,” Diego said softly, only slightly accentuating the word ‘time’.**

**And Lee understood what his friend was saying.Time, it all depended on time.He nodded and got back up again.This time he swung on the crutches just as he had when still wearing the splints and bandages, and made his way into the sala.He continued toward the door and Bernardo hastened to open it for him.The air had cooled a little in the late evening; the sun having set while the doctor had been caring for him.Birds sang their evening melodies and the breeze carried the scent of juniper.There was also a hint of the ocean.It beckoned and he turned toward the west.**

**The three Spanish American men stayed inside at Diego’s direction.“Dr. Avila, there is something you have not said,” the younger man prompted.** ****

**“I was hopeful, but I think there was other damage that either prevented me from properly setting the bone or that is separately causing the pain and inability to walk correctly.To the knee, the muscles….I really cannot say, gentlemen.But he must be coaxed to take this slowly, very slowly.There is a chance if he does that he will at least recover enough to lessen the pain and walk more comfortably.”** ****

**Diego nodded thoughtfully and then continued out the door to join his American friend.The other two men followed more slowly.** ****

**“I have heard theories that swimming is very good for injured muscles,” Diego said almost off-handedly from just behind Lee.**

**If Lee hadn’t needed both hands for the crutches, he’d have smacked himself on the forehead.Of course!Therapy in the place he most wanted to be.“A boat would be nice to go out in to do that swimming therapy,” he said, feeling pleasure for almost the first time since his duel with Ruiz.**

**“I have heard of such a thing as well,” Dr. Avila contributed from the doorway.“But one could get just as much benefit from a smaller lake.”**

**“No, Doctor,” Lee said, turning and facing the men who had followed.“I am a seaman.I love the ocean; it holds more for me than any inland lake could.I have been told, jokingly, but I think there may be truth to it, that some of that seawater has seeped into my very soul.The pulse of the ocean matches the pulse of my body.No, Diego is right.I need to work out in the ocean.And I am going to build a boat that will carry me on the surface even as I take time to go below the waves.”**

**“Just be careful, Capitán.The ocean can be treacherous as well as nurturing.”Avila had been gazing at him as though he were crazy.** ****

**“Indeed it can.I believe, without sounding like I’m boasting, that I know that more than anyone else here in this hacienda.”** ****

**So it was that for the next few days, Crane applied himself to designing a sailboat he could handle alone; one that would take him out to find the _Orbe de Oro._ Diego watched over his shoulder as he sketched, figured scale and contemplated what he would need.He also watched as his Americano friend continued to attempt walking on his injured leg without the aide of the crutches.It was then Diego determined to do all he could to help Crane achieve his goal of building his boat.He was not surprised when the final plans showed a name on the side— _Seaview II._**  
  
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	11. New Page 1

New Page 1

**A Matter of Time**  
  
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**Chapter 11**

**Crane leaned against a barrel and gazed appreciatively at his almost completed sailboat.Diego stood back from his ‘duty’ station and perused his caulking job with a critical eye.Then he looked down at his clothes and decided that more of the caulking had gotten on his calzoneros than on the sleek looking boat.When he had offered to help his friend with more than just the supplying of the materials and the financial backing, he didn’t really think that the American would take him up on it.However, while Diego knew he lacked in workman’s ability, there was no lack of enthusiasm.He had truly enjoyed the experience and had learned a great deal.Most of his father’s friends had shaken their heads at this latest aberration of the de la Vega heir, but as before, he had ignored them.He was duly grateful that most of the same head-shakers had quickly believed the stories that had discounted him being Zorro.**

**Lee continued to gaze at the boat in satisfaction.San Pedro’s oldest, and until recently, only, boat maker walked around from the other side of the little vessel, and joined him.The man had been convinced to help, even though he had pretty much left the harder, day-to-day activities to his sons.“It is small, but it is a very good, solid design.Even José, Luis and Isadore would approve.”He had, at first questioned the sanity of the man who had only wanted a boat that he would take out himself, simply to ride the waves, as the Americano had put it.He still did, but had to admit that the craft was a good one with an excellent design.The old man had pestered Lee for the background, but Diego knew that his friend had only mentioned something vague, like designs from back home.Nothing that wasn’t true, Diego thought with a slight smile.But the old man didn’t know that back home entailed more than a hundred and fifty years in the future.**

**“It should virtually fly on the water,” Lee announced with a grin.He gathered up his cane and walked around her for what was probably the hundredth time.**

**This was freedom, Diego realized, in the American’s prison of time and injury.While swimming in the ocean had been therapeutic as well as strengthening to his friend’s damaged leg the past four weeks, he was still confined to no more than a couple of hundred feet from the shore.Diego knew that Lee wanted more—much more.The present-day _Seaview II_ would provide that.Diego couldn’t help it; he laughed.“It should, you have worked hard enough on it.”Indeed, Lee Crane had worked almost as one possessed.On every aspect of the construction, he had been there, not only supervising, but also working alongside the carpenters that he and the old shipbuilder, Fernan Costa had carefully chosen.The thumping of the cane that Lee now used was almost as common a sound as the cry of the gulls overhead, or the slapping of the water on the pier.He was every inch a captain when directing the men at their labor, and yet he had not been the least bit hesitant to pitch in and help.**

**“Do you remember when we laid the keel?” Lee asked quietly when he had finished his latest inspection.** ****

**“Yes,” Diego answered, wiping his sweaty brow with a cloth that Bernardo handed him.That day, not quite a month ago, had been a turning point in the American’s focus.Whereas before he had been despairing over his circumstances and most particularly his injured leg, from the point that the keel was settled into the builders’ cradle, his focus had changed dramatically.**

**Even as he asked, Lee was tenderly stroking the bow end of the keel, just as he did that first time.“I wasn’t a keel holder of her namesake,” he murmured, his mind and thoughts elsewhere.“I remember reading about the laying of the _Seaview’s_ keel in a newspaper and wishing I could have been there.”** ****

**“What do you mean ‘keel holder’, Lee?” Diego asked, although he thought he knew what his friend was talking about.** ****

**“Usually a crew, or a good portion of it, is selected before the ship is constructed.When the keel is laid, those so selected are designated keel holders, or plank owners.They are the original members of the crew, those who go out on the maiden run.I came on board after _Seaview_ had been commissioned and done duty for some months.I was her second captain.”** ****

**“But you have been her captain the longest,” Diego presumed.**

**“Yes.”** ****

**“Now that your new craft is almost finished, when do you plan to launch her?”Diego knew how eager Lee was to go out and test the small boat.**

**“Well, we can pretty much finish today, install the sail and ropes tomorrow.We will not be able to launch her on Sunday, so I would say Monday.”** ****

**“Excellent.I know that father, for all that he prefers being land-bound on de la Vega property, will enjoy a ride on _Seaview II._ And I wouldn’t miss it.After you have tried her out, of course.”** ****

**Lee nodded appreciatively to his friend.Indeed he would prefer to take her out alone on her first excursion.He had to prove that he could handle the boat on his own, not only to his own satisfaction but so that he could do something independent.He knew that the others didn’t have near the affinity for the ocean that he had and he didn’t want Diego, Alejandro or anyone else feeling they had to do something with which they really weren’t comfortable.“Señor Costa, you will be able to come for the launching of _Seaview II_?”** ****

**The old man rubbed his chin, then grinned like a child.“Wild horses and typhoons would not keep me from it.”He looked at the sky, the birds screeching overhead and added, “It will be a bit foggy and breezy in the morning, though.I suspect that will not keep you from trying your little boat out?”** ****

**“Maybe if it was a typhoon,” Lee replied with a chuckle.“But not a freshening breeze like this.I have to see what this boat can do.” _Even if she will never take the place of her namesake._ “Where would there be a good place to keep her berthed when I am not using her?”** ****

**“There will always be a spot near Luis’ fishing boat,” Costa assured him.**

**While fish was not a mainstay in the diet of these people, Lee knew that the Costa family made a comfortable living from the sea.They hunted for otter fur on the nearby Santa Rosa and Santa Catalina Islands during part of the year, and supplied fish for the poorer families and the occasional rancher the rest of the time.On occasion they also supplied the larger ships that came to port.Then they would reap great benefits from their ocean enterprise.** ****

**Monday morning was indeed a little gray and overcast, but that made the air cooler than it had been for weeks and Lee relished the feel of cool spray and the salty tang of an ocean wind in his face.The August heat had been almost unbearable at times, even for those used to it and had grated on the nerves of almost everyone.Even now, the beginning of September, it was still hot.**

**Diego had had a comfortable, lightweight outfit made for him that would give Lee great freedom of movement while sailing.The pants were dark blue; almost as dark as his dress blues had been, while the shirt was a simple white shirt.Don Alejandro had provided a bottle of fine de la Vega wine for the occasion of the little sailboat’s launch.Even Sgt. Garcia showed up.**

**It seemed that Crane had been accepted into the community, maybe not with totally open arms as they would with one of Spanish background, but nonetheless, he was accepted.Lee’s mouth quirked into a crooked smile.He had heard the gossip about him—that he was the eccentric sea captain in search of his ship that sank without a trace.That he was looking for the treasure of his ship, which had been carrying much gold, that he had been addled by the loss of his vessel and friends, that he had been bewitched by the sea.Perhaps there was a bit of truth in all of the gossip.He had laughed over a glass of wine in the de la Vega library late one night about a week ago, but later he had thought soberly how close these tale-mongers had come.**

**Ah, well, he now had his craft, a bit of freedom in his past/present day prison.How long had it been?Right about four months?Maybe a week longer than that.Regardless, he needed to stop thinking of this as a prison and begin making it his home.He also needed to find a way to pay back Diego and Alejandro for their extreme generosity and hospitality.**

**He brought his mind back to the present and the group of friends and the curious who had gathered.“The ship I formerly captained was commissioned with a great deal of ceremony, but since this is only a small vessel, and one that was not built to see combat,” Lee said to those assembled, “I will only say a little before she is put to sea.”He gazed directly at Diego, and then to Alejandro before he spoke his next words.“I wish to thank Don’s Diego and Alejandro de la Vega for backing this venture of mine.They have been more than friends to me; they have been family.”He turned back to the small craft and continued, “May this vessel always feel the currents of the ocean as lifeblood, may she carry those aboard with swiftness and sureness and may her tenure on the waves be as long as that of her namesake.”It was then that Lee had an uncontrolled urge and began to sing the Navy hymn, “ _Eternal Father, Strong to Save_ ” in English.He knew that none of the assembled would most likely recognize any of the words, except Diego, but Lee felt it was his means of parting from what he had striven for all his teenaged life to attain.It tore at his soul, and yet as he sang, he gained a measure of solace and felt a little of the despair drain from his heart.**

**When he finished it was quiet, except for the gulls and the soft sighing of the waves.Then Lee turned to Diego.The hacendado had not forgotten his part.“Man the ship and bring her to life!” Diego cried out the Naval command that Lee told him was customary in his future day.** ****

**With a grin, Lee saluted and all of those who had helped to build the small boat guided her into the water.Before she had been finished, the craft had been tested in the water, so Lee knew she was tight, now he would see how well she handled.He tossed the hated cane aboard and then hauled himself after it, reaching for the boom and unfurling the sail.The northerly wind filled it and began to blow the boat parallel to the shore.Lee pulled the control rope and swung the boom around to get the full affect of the wind and then tied her off.He reached for the tiller and turned the _Seaview II_ toward the open ocean, also adjusting the mainsail again.**

**Vaguely, Lee heard the cheers of the small crowd, but he concentrated on working the craft in the increasing wind off shore.It had been many years and yet, it seemed like yesterday when he had last gone out solo in a sailboat during his academy days.He found himself laughing as he remembered the mistakes he made that first day.There were the times he and Chip went out together and raced against another pair of middies.Now it was just himself and his thoughts, and he felt a small bit of contentment.As long as he had the sea, Lee thought.The sea and his memories….** ****

**“Do you think he will be all right, Diego?” Alejandro asked after everyone else had left.**

**“Yes, eventually, Father.It has to be very hard.”** ****

**“Do you think his people will be able to eventually find him?”** ****

**“No,” Diego replied simply.**

**“That is why you have worked and been with him so much these past months,” Alejandro said.“That is why Zorro has not ridden as much of late.”**

**“Zorro has not been needed as much anyway,” Diego murmured.“Only Diego.”** ****

**That was a statement that didn’t need an answer and Alejandro didn’t venture one.Instead he changed the subject.“I thought you said that we would need a bottle of wine to ‘christen’ the boat.”** ****

**“Lee told me that such was sometimes done, but what we did was good and apparently he didn’t think breaking a bottle of good de la Vega vintage was necessary after all,” Diego said with a slight smile.** ****

**“Then we will save it to toast the maiden voyage of the _Seaview II_ with Captain Crane when he returns.”** ****

**Diego just nodded and watched the diminishing sail in the distance.**

**That night a very tired, but happy Lee Crane sat in the library with his two benefactors, holding but not drinking more than a sip of the same wine that had been selected to christen the sailboat.The American was too excited.“The waters near Santa Rosa Island were crystal clear,” he declared.“I swear you could see detail for at least fifty feet below.”** ****

**“Did you find anything?”** ****

**“Found out I need to work on my face mask a bit more,” Lee said with a grin.**

**Diego smiled knowingly.During the days that he had been working on his sailboat, the American worked at night on various pieces of equipment that he said he would need to have to dive.The thing he called a mask had been a broken piece of glass that he had enticed the pueblo’s glazier to round and smooth on the edges and then he had worked with the man to find the best medium to house the glass so that he could wear it on his face.Swim ‘fins’ were just as difficult, with Lee continually grumbling that there should be something like rubber around.“What about the fins?” Diego asked.**

**“They aren’t as effective as in my day—well, so to speak, but they worked.I guess if Ben Franklin could figure out how to make some in early eighteenth century Pennsylvania, then I can make do with what I have.”**

**“You were limping a bit more this evening,” Alejandro jumped in, the voice of reason.** ****

**“You use the muscles a bit differently when you have fins,” Lee explained coolly, not about to let anything deflate his good mood.**

**Alejandro just nodded, not wishing to pursue the matter.“Here is to your successful maiden voyage.May your other voyages be just as successful.”He raised his glass and the other two men did the same.**

**In the weeks that followed the launching of the boat, Lee went out every almost every day.Sometimes Diego went with him, helping him with the ballast, usually a large rock that would get the diver to the bottom more quickly, and sometimes just admiring the view.Lee never went to exactly the same spot, but it was always in the vicinity of Santa Rosa Island and Diego knew that Lee was hunting for the wreck of the _Orbe de Oros_.**

**Seven weeks after the maiden voyage of _Seaview_ , Lee tried a site about an eighth of a mile closer to the island than he had attempted before.This trip he was alone and he tied off the mainsail and tossed out the iron pig anchor.He had also brought a reed pipe invention that he was trying for the first time—a sort of snorkel that would allow him to get air without constantly coming up to the surface.As long as the binding held, the pipe would stay several feet above the water line and allow him quick access to air.He only had enough of the reeds and tar for forty feet, but Crane figured that was eighty feet less swimming per breath.That is, as long as the reeds held together.He was counting on the leather bindings around each joint to help hold the contraption together, too.It took an hour, but he finally got the parts together.Lee knew it would be tricky with the movement of the boat, pressure of the water, but he figured he could only try and then use it to greatest advantage if it worked.**

**Before strapping on the fins, he rubbed his aching leg with tallow, something that served to insulate the injured limb from the cooler water of the depths.He frowned at the inconvenience. The blasted stuff smelled, too, he thought sourly, but since it was plentiful and it helped, he used it. It was getting later in the year and the water was getting cooler, especially down deeper where he spent a lot of his time.Soon, he was afraid, he’d have to use the grease all over his body.He finished rubbing down the leg and finished his preparations.At least, Crane thought, his limited mobility was negligible when he was underwater, although it was noticeable that the left leg had much greater power than the right.Shrugging, he pulled on the leather mask and tied it behind his head.He felt his longer hair pulled into the knot and resolved to let Bernardo give him a closer haircut.While he had tried to keep his appearance as close to the Navy norm as he possibly could, his hair seemed to grow phenomenally fast these days.Good sea air, he thought with a slight grin.**

**Before he slipped into the water, Lee noticed clouds forming to the south.He wouldn’t have as much time to dive today as he usually had.With that thought, Lee fell backwards off the starboard side and began swimming toward the bottom.The water was, as usual, very clear and he quickly got to the bottom of the reed pipe.He took a small experimental breath.The air was coming through perfectly and Lee breathed again, then continued toward the bottom, which was about another twenty feet below him.Kelp grew from nearby rocks, stretching toward the sun, waving gently with the currents.Just below him, however, the sea floor was uneven sand, smaller sea plants growing in clumps with fish weaving in and out.He swam along the bottom, trying to get the lay of the immediate area before having to go for air.Fish swam around him in abundance, orange Garibaldis, huge sunfish, and others too numerous to count.The depth muted the fishes’ colors, but Lee was familiar with the waters in this area and his mind supplied the correct colors.As he swam along the bottom, Crane also saw a couple of varieties of starfish, anemones and a few somberly colored alcyonarian soft corals, among which small fish and crabs foraged and found shelter.But without the proper gear, he couldn’t take the time to study and catalogue the variety of marine life here.There was a purpose to his explorations, and ocean life, other than to be aware of predators, was not part of that purpose at present.**

**He rose to take another breath and then returned to the dimmer, less colorful bottom.The lumpy, bumpy appearance seemed somewhat unnatural to him and Lee swam among the outcroppings.Gently, he brushed away the sand and was excited when he discovered that what was beneath the sand and growth was not rock. He rose for another breath and returned to the area.Uncovering more, Lee discovered a cannon, rotted wooden beams, metal pulleys and other fixtures that had once been used to raise and lower large sails.His excitement was so great that he almost forgot to go and replenish his air supply until his lungs painfully reminded him of his duty.When he returned to the spot, he began to explore in a radius around the initial find.Then, among the kelp, he found the chest.It was mostly metal, but had been also held with leather straps that were now almost rotted away.Several breaths later, and with a trip to the boat for a pry bar, he was finally successful in forcing open the old chest, wherein he found a king’s ransom in treasure.**  
  
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	12. A Matter of Time

A Matter of Time

**A Matter of Time**  
  
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**Chapter 12**

**Crane stared at the treasure that was stored in the chest.This must be the fabled treasure of the _Orbe de Oros_.And he had found it.As he gazed in shock, Lee felt his lungs burning and he grabbed a jeweled necklace before he pushed the lid back on top of the chest.He would bring Diego tomorrow to help him.For all that the caballero was a rancher’s son, Diego was becoming quite a sailor, coming out with him about half the time.**

**Lee swam steadily toward the surface, bypassing the breathing tube, seeing by the increasing dimness that the clouds must be overhead by now.Popping above the surface, he gasped in a great lungful of air and swam the short distance toward his boat.The waves were getting choppy and slapped him in the face a couple of times before he pulled himself onboard.Securing the breathing pipe, all the while perusing the distance from the shore of the island, trying to eyeball measurements for a return trip, Lee decided to try something he had also been working on—a buoy marker.Untying the anchor rope from the back of the boat, he pulled out the cow bladder he had requested from the de la Vega ranch hands.It was still taut with air and tied off, the neck also sealed with pitch and had lost nothing in transition.He attached the end of the anchor rope and then tossed it over the side, hoping it would outlast the approaching storm.**

**With that taken care of, Lee carefully put the necklace into a leather bag and tied it with a smaller rope around his waist.Then he untied the tiller and turned the boat toward San Pedro.As the wind was mostly from the south, it was difficult, but by maneuvering back and forth, he managed to go in the general direction he wanted.At times, the wind filled the sail and made the little boat skip on top of the water.As he drew close to the harbor, Lee had to cut the sail away from the mast in order to keep from ramming the Costa’s main fishing boat at its moorings.The rain began blasting him in the face as Luis watched him approach with something akin to panic.The fisherman took the tossed rope that Lee threw to him.**

**“You waited too long to come in, Capitán,” Luis chided.**

**“Sometimes you get so engrossed in what’s under the waves that you forget what is going on above them,” Lee said with a penitent smile.“Besides, this is the first storm I have seen since I have been here and I’m afraid I got a bit complacent.”**

**Luis gazed at the dark clouds.“It is a bit early for any storms of this magnitude, but it has also been a dry spring and summer, so we do not complain.You handle that boat so well, or we would both be replacing timbers after this storm passes,” the fisherman replied with a relieved laugh.**

**“I think there was a lot of luck more than there was skill,” Lee admitted ruefully.Luis gave him a helping hand to the low dock, which Crane accepted, being less agile on land.Together they moored the larger boat against the storm with stout ropes and then moored the _Seaview II_ far enough away to avoid banging against the dock or the larger fishing boat.Lee braced himself with the cane as the wind had become almost gale strength.** ****

**“You have developed strength in your arms,” Luis told him, shouting against the howling of the wind.“Now, Capitán, can we go somewhere out of this storm?Perhaps the nearby tavern?”** ****

**Lee nodded.He wouldn’t be going to Los Angeles or the de la Vega hacienda until this storm cleared away anyway.Feeling the pouch resting at his waist, he transferred it inside his shirt for even safer keeping.Then he limped beside the fisherman toward shelter as the winds continued to buffet them.He sat quietly sipping on a small glass of wine as he contemplated what lay against his chest and what remained on the ocean floor.**

**Later that night, when the storm had ended and he made sure that his boat was all right, Lee took the gelding and rode back to the hacienda.By then, he was so tired that even the pain of his leg couldn’t keep him from dozing.The only thing that kept him awake was the passing of a squall line about a mile from the casa grande.When he arrived, a servant took the horse and Bernardo helped him into the house and his room.Diego met him at the door, his face a study of concern.“This storm had us worried, Lee.I was ready to ride to San Pedro when Manuel told me you had arrived.”** ****

**“Barely made it, but what I discovered makes it all worth while.”** ****

**“Dying is not worth anything, Lee,” Diego replied solemnly, even though he could tell that despite the tired demeanor, the American had something exciting to reveal.“Let’s get you in some dry clothing, bring you something warm to drink and then you can tell me what valuable you found.”** ****

**“That apparent?”** ****

**Diego laughed merrily.“Yes, Lee, it is.”** ****

**Soon Lee was in the library, in front of a cheery fire, drinking a mug of champurado with Diego and Alejandro.He put the cup down and pulled out the pouch.“Do either of you recognize this?”He handed it to Don Alejandro.**

**The old man opened the mouth of the pouch and gasped.Then he carefully pulled out the necklace.Diego leaned forward, his eyes studying the bejeweled object.“Incredible!” Alejandro said in awe.“This appears to be the property of a noble family.”** ****

**“Would it fit with what might have been on the _Orbe de Oro_?” Lee asked.**

**“Did you find anything else that would identify the source of this necklace?” Diego asked.**

**Lee shook his head.“However, there was a whole metal chest filled with such things.”He paused and took a deep breath.“I had plans to salvage all of it, but only on one condition.”** ****

**Alejandro studied the capitán.“What is that condition?”** ****

**“That the only thing that gets turned in to the authorities is anything you recognize as property of the Church.I would not want to keep anything that belonged to a religious organization.”**

**Alejandro smiled.“But how does one keep this kind of thing a secret?”** ****

**“You keep most of it in a safe place for a hard time.”Here Lee paused and hesitated and then chose his words carefully. Alejandro still did not understand all the nuances of this time travel thing, even after Lee had explained it to him, but even he could see the ramifications of someone from a future time doing something in the past that might change that future.“There will be a hard time ahead for anyone of Spanish decent,” Crane continued.“This will help your descendants keep this land you have worked so hard to build, Don Alejandro.I hesitate to give details, but you have to trust me on that.”**

**Alejandro didn’t question the younger man.With all the change that had happened in the past five years, nothing in the future would surprise him.**

**“The jewels alone in a few such necklaces would be worth a fortune,” Diego commented.** ****

**“And that is what you can do.Some of the pieces that seem to be of less value can be taken apart and the jewels sold or traded for what you need.It appeared that there was gold in the chest, too,” Lee elaborated.He smiled and took a sip of his chocolate.“At least I will have paid you back for the boat and everything else you have done for me.”** ****

**“You know that we didn’t expect anything in return for helping you, Capitán, but it is most appreciated.”Alejandro felt his esteem of this man increase.Suddenly he was hoping very much that the friends of such a resourceful and courageous seaman would be able to find him.**

**=========================**

**“Harry, we can’t stay out much longer,” Starke spoke from the chair by Nelson’s desk in his cabin.“That time travel device uses tremendous amounts of energy and we are almost at a point of having to return to our time to refuel.”Left unsaid was the fact that as soon as _Seaview_ returned to Santa Barbara, they would be pounced on by everyone from the press to the president.You couldn’t hide a submarine for that long and not have someone ask questions.Then he shook his head.They could return to the future at almost the same time as they left it, or nearly at the same time.The problem was that there were slight aberrations in the temporal placements of the timepiece that even Harriman Nelson couldn’t explain.It was nothing earth shattering, but they had appeared on a couple of their jumps by as much as a month off what Nelson had set it for.**

**Come to think of it, Starke thought, it was the last several jumps that had been off, each one wider than the last.Could the timepiece be getting overloaded; becoming defective?They had been making a jump a day for the past three weeks, working in ten-year increments from 1770.Mostly they had jumped and then listened for evidence of Crane’s timepiece.Then they had jumped in five-year increments and periodically sent Lt. Rojas and Seaman Morales on shore to listen for any evidence of the captain.Surely if Lee Crane had shown up on the shores of California someone would be talking.Then he began to wonder if their search was too narrow in geographical terms, limiting it to Santa Barbara.It was then he realized how terribly difficult the scope of their hunt was and how incredibly lucky they would be to find the young captain if they weren’t able to pick up any emanation from the timepiece.** ****

**He returned his gaze to his friend and saw that Harriman was most likely thinking the same thoughts he was.“Jiggs, are we just spinning our wheels?Is Santa Barbara the right place?” Nelson asked.“Or would San Diego be better?And how do we explain the expenditure of nuclear fuel in the short period of time that we will appear to have been gone?”**

**“And what about the growing variances in our jump coordinates, Harry?”** ****

**“I’ve been trying to figure that one out, Jiggs, and can only assume that something inside the time travel device is in need of replacement or readjustment.We’ll have to go back to the Institute to do that, though.I don’t want to monkey around with this thing while we’re in the past.”** ****

**“I agree.So do we announce a return today?”** ****

**“No, I mean, I believe we can safely make one more jump.”** ****

**“Are you sure we can do this one more time?”**

**“Yes. There is an emergency canister of fuel pellets that will build the reactor’s reserve and allow us the safe time jump two more times; the one temporal jump and the return home.”Harriman seemed to be agonizing over something and Starke thought he knew what it might be.“And I think, Jiggs, that it will be our last time jump.”He got up and began to pace the confines of his small cabin.** ****

**“Harry, you can’t mean that?”** ****

**“Jiggs, you were the very one who reminded me that my resources are limited.Even I didn’t realize how quickly this device would use power.We’ve been out a month and found nothing that would even give us a clue that Lee was even here.What if we’ve been wrong all along?What if he’s not anywhere near, either temporally or geographically?”** ****

**Starke could see how much this search and rescue mission had been affecting his friend and then he understood the wisdom of what Harry was saying, even as painful as it was.It would be agonizing to know that they were leaving their colleague in hostile ‘territory,’ so to speak, but it would be brutal to keep on searching with no idea if such a search was even coming close to reaping anything of substance.Right now, Starke figured that Harry had used more than three-quarters of his liquid assets on this venture and probably some funds that were not really his to use.As much as people wanted to make out that _Seaview_ was Harriman Nelson’s private property, the sub really wasn’t.Oh, yes, it had been his fortune that had begun the project, his money and his good name that had allowed building to begin, but Nelson could no more have completed the project and continued to run his ship with his own funds than he could have teleported himself to the moon.The Navy had several fingers in _Seaview’s_ pie; several other government agencies were backing her, as well as some private backers.They would all want Nelson’s head on a platter if they knew what he was using the boat for.**

**Lee Crane was one man, important to be sure, but indispensable?No.He could be replaced and he would have to be.Even Crane himself would agree with that.“Where, or rather, when did you want to make this jump for?” he asked softly.**

**Harriman perused his chart, gazing at the already recorded jumps and the spaces that indicated unexplored years.He stood up and held his pen over the large piece of paper.“I have no idea of the most logical last stop, Jiggs, so I am going to leave this open to providence.I am going to let God or luck or whatever choose this jump.”Nelson gazed up at his friend for input, but Starke could only nod.**

**“And may God grant us a successful jump,” Starke breathed fervently.** ****

**“Amen.”Harriman closed his eyes, held the pen a bit higher and then hesitated.His eyes remained closed, but his fingers began to tremble.Finally he let the pen drop.**

**============================**

**It took three days to get most of the contents of the trunk to the hacienda, even with Diego’s help.The unusual weather remained unsettled with intermittent storms rolling in the late afternoons or early evenings, so that curtailed their time at the site.Lee was exhausted by the third day, but was determined to get the rest of the things from the wreck, so after a particularly stormy day, he went out again, this time alone.**

**“Lee, if you will wait a day or two, I can go out with you again,” Diego suggested.“You need some rest, too.”He gazed at his friend, a puzzled expression on his face.“Why do you feel the need to get all of it and so speedily?”** ****

**“I am not totally sure, Diego,” Lee admitted.“Maybe it’s just so I can say I finished it; did it here, now and without technological help.Maybe it is because there is something inside that says this is important.I really cannot say.”**

**Diego figured it most likely had something to do with Lee’s injury and the need to prove himself in this situation he was in.“That treasure was there before you came, it will be there a couple of days from now.This strange weather does not make it very prudent to go out that far.Even Luis and his brothers are not far from shore with their fishing.”He paused.“I think we have been very lucky so far, Lee.”** ****

**“I know and I cannot explain it.It’s something that seems to be driving me,” the American replied stubbornly.**

**Diego believed him. He knew it wasn’t greed for the jewels, coins and gold.They had salvaged almost all of those already.There seemed to have been something driving the young captain from the time he began building his boat and it still was—a kind of nervous energy of some kind.“I can go out with you if you wait a day.”** ****

**“I know, but I think I can go out quickly, get the last few artifacts and then return by noon.”**

**“Be careful, Lee.”Diego felt something inside troubling him, just as something inside seemed to be driving his friend, allowing him to forget the possible danger.**

**The next day, Lee sailed his boat back out toward the site.His buoy was still floating, by now only barely above the water, but it wouldn’t be needed after today.Quickly he put the reed pipe together, pulled off his shirt and pants, leaving only the makeshift trunks and then he slipped on the fins and mask.The sky was overcast, but the breeze wasn’t too strong.There was a yellow cast, but Lee figured that only a couple, maybe three, trips to the bottom would be sufficient to get the rest of what he wanted.Even though he had found the treasure, he wanted proof of which wreck he had discovered.He had never found anything that positively linked all of this to the _Orbe de Oro._**

**With no further thought, he splashed into the water and swam toward the bottom.Perhaps an hour of searching later, he had found what he was looking for, proof that he had indeed discovered the wreck of the _Orbe de Oro._ His pouch was full but he spent another few moments looking around the area for more artifacts when he noticed the increasing darkness in the depths.With a feeling of foreboding, Lee headed toward the surface.When he reached his boat, he had trouble grasping the side; it was pitching so violently.A shrieking wind along with the yellow tinted sky told him of the quick approach of a major storm, one that would rival the squall that he had barely beat to the harbor almost a week ago.**

**Throwing his mask into the bottom of his boat, he hauled himself aboard, pulled off his fins and cut away the breathing pipe.Unfurling the sail, he felt the boom almost torn from his grasp.Only with great effort was he able to control the tiller enough to turn the craft toward the shore.In all his years at sea, he had never seen a storm come up so quickly, especially in California.**  
  
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	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

**A Matter of Time**  
  
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**Chapter 13**

**As he and Bernardo returned to the hacienda after a visit with Sgt. Garcia that was most productive in amount of information gleaned, but not pleasing as to its content, Diego noticed the approaching storm with something akin to horror.The yellow sky to the south and west turned dark within the space of several heartbeats.This was much more ominous than the previous storm a week ago and he knew that Lee would not have had a chance to get back to the harbor.He turned to Bernardo, who had apparently come to the same conclusion and ordered Tornado saddled the moment they reached the casa grande.When they arrived, the mozo rushed to the secret cave to do his bidding.Diego changed quickly.Bernardo had glanced at him as though he was a crazy person and perhaps he was, but he would try to get help for Lee.In a situation such as this, Tornado would be the more sure-footed and speedier horse and Zorro was more effective in recruiting help than Diego would be.He did not don the cape, as it would be a detriment in this kind of weather.He mounted and in spite of the rain that was now coming down in sheets, Zorro began to fight his way toward Los Angeles and ultimately San Pedro.** ****

**He only made it to Los Angeles before he admitted defeat.As he watched from the doorway of an old, unused stable on the outskirts of town, Zorro could only pray for his friend.**

**===========================**

**Lee realized almost immediately that it was too late to ‘out run’ this storm and make it to the harbor.The swirling winds were wrecking havoc on his sail.They were coming from the southwest and if he continued in that direction, he would have no sail at all.Nor would he have a mast.He fought the tiller and turned about toward Santa Rosa Island.He could take refuge there until the storm blew itself out. _Seaview II_ bucked and then slammed down on a cresting wave.Water slapped him in the face, but he ignored it.The sailboat hurtled toward what he guessed to be the island’s shoreline and Lee hoped it was the sandy beach and not the rocky shoreline he had seen during some of his explorations.**

**Fighting the tiller, he was able to keep what he presumed to be a steady course toward the island.The rain blinded him and tension caused the pain in his leg to redouble itself.He felt, rather than heard the sail give way and he knew he was at the mercy of the buffeting waves.Still, he kept a steady grip on the tiller, hoping to keep the rudder long enough to get to shore.Remotely, he wondered at his almost obsessive need to return here this day because somehow he knew that he wasn’t going to be able to keep that old sextant with its inscription, or the still intact captain’s watch.Watch!!That brought his mind to a terrifying thought.The timepiece!!He always stowed it in a tiny cabinet beneath his seat when he was diving, feeling the need to always have it with him.**

**While still grasping on the bucking tiller with one hand, Lee reached below him and groped.The cabinet was still closed, but water was coming in the boat quickly.He had to get to land and find shelter.Then he wondered just why he continued to protect the damned watch.He knew his place was now here—in his past.Right now, the most important thing was to preserve his life.That too, gave him pause.Would his life here, change what his life had been, indeed, what others lives had been—would be—in the future?Lee shook his head, feeling he was confusing himself.He needed to concentrate on the here and now.**

**Suddenly, he saw rocks looming ahead of him to his left and he jerked the tiller to force the craft starboard.The sailboat resisted and slammed along the side of a tide-smoothed rock.Lee felt the port side of his beloved sailboat caving in, the waves hurtling her over and throwing him out into the boiling surf.He took a breath and dove under the wave that was reaching to claim him as its own.**

**=========================**

**The pen dropped and then rolled to the side of the desk.Nelson gazed at the number on which the red point had landed and made its mark.1825.Not too far into the Mexican period of Spanish California.Still, he had determined to let fate determine this one last jump.**

**Harriman picked up the mike without saying a word to Starke.“Chip,” he began, knowing that the XO was on duty in the control room.**

**“Yes, Admiral,” Morton’s voice replied quickly.** ****

**“Ready us for one more jump.”** ****

**“Aye, sir.”And the orders came over the intercom.**

**Nelson had the timepiece in its cradle in front of him, and began setting the little control stem.July 4, 1825.Then he pressed the stem.There was the jolt of transfer, the sub shuddered slightly and then it was still.He picked up the mike again.“Chip, secure the boat.I’ll be right up.”** ****

**“Aye, aye, Admiral.”** ****

**“July 4 th, Harry?” Starke asked.** ****

**Nelson only shrugged.“As good a day in this year as any other.”** ****

**“I guess it is.”Starke followed him out the door.**

**They entered the control room and saw the turgid water boiling against the observation windows.“Storm?” he asked, surprised.**

**“Yes, sir.We’re taking her down to a hundred feet and will wait it out.”** ****

**“Kowalski, you watch for any readings,” he told the sonar man.**

**“Yes, sir.Already begun.I did pick up some little brief blip, but it hasn’t reappeared.”** ****

**Nelson was immediately intrigued.That was more than they had had in any of the other jumps.“How brief?”** ****

**“A single ping that I would have missed had I not been watching the screen closely.That’s how faint it was.”** ****

**“Did you mark its position?”**

**“Not accurately, sir.It came and went so fast, I wasn’t able to get a pinpoint reading.It appeared to be on the ocean floor, though.Shallow though.Really hard to tell for sure, Admiral.”** ****

**“Hmmm,” Nelson murmured.He hadn’t thought of the possibility of Lee being transferred into the ocean, but it was certainly possible.Hopefully if that had happened, he had been close to shore.Lee was a strong swimmer.When this storm let up, he determined that this time he would go ashore with Rojas and Morales.This time they would try Los Angeles, since it was a bigger sized pueblo.** ****

**It took several hours before Chip felt it was safe enough to surface.Even then the wind was still gusting fitfully, blowing spray into their faces.The afternoon sun was weak but the lookouts could see hints of golden blue skies to the south.“Break out a skiff,” Nelson ordered.“Lt. Rojas?” he turned to the young man beside him.** ****

**“Sir?”**

**“I am coming with you.What would you suggest, based on your previous experiences, that I wear?”** ****

**“Sir, I think you could wear the outfit that Seaman Morales wore the last time, since you two are close in size.It is a tradesman’s costume, if you don’t mind that and the hat will hide your hair color in case the people during this time here in Los Angeles have a fear of foreigners,” Rojas replied.**

**“And Ned?” Nelson asked, referring to Morales.** ****

**“We had a couple of extra sets of peon’s clothes, sir.”** ****

**Nelson nodded.“Good.I would like to get underway as soon as possible.It would be better, I think, to go in under the cover of the tail-end of this storm.”** ****

**“Commander,” he continued as Chip came topside to join him. “When we leave, I want you to stand off one of the islands between here and Santa Barbara.If possible try to find where that signal came from.We will have communicators.”** ****

**“Aye, sir,” Chip replied.“I’ll go and have the skiff made ready for the landing party.”** ****

**Harriman nodded.When Chip and Rojas had left, Starke joined him.“Do you think it really wise to go with them, Harry?”** ****

**“Maybe not, Jiggs, but if this is the last stopover, I want to see it for myself—and I want to be able to tell myself that we did all we could do.I want _Seaview_ to make readings and take samples before we return to our day, as well.I won’t be able to publicize them, but I will be able to use the readings to satisfy myself and show me where I need to concentrate my conservation and ecological work.”** ****

**Starke knew that his colleague was covering up his emotions with his bantering, but that was all right, too.He just grunted his agreement and continued to watch the scudding clouds above them and the distant line of land starboard.**

**“I had better get ready myself,” Nelson said and went below.Within an hour the small party had set out in the skiff, all three men paddling toward the distant shore.** ****

**In the skiff, Nelson sat quietly, watching the distant, cloud enshrouded shoreline become more distinct and detailed as they closed the distance.The two Hispanic crewmen were quietly efficient.“Lieutenant, I will leave all the talking to you as my Spanish skills extend mainly to understanding, not speaking.”He held the wide-brimmed straw hat with one hand as an errant gust of wind tried to snatch it from his head.** ****

**“Admiral, what if we have to identify ourselves?” Rojas asked.**

**Nelson thought a moment and then it occurred to him.“Just use my name.They might think I am related to Horatio Nelson who beat the French forces in the Battle of Trafalger.”** ****

**“Sounds good, Admiral.I hope we are successful this time.”** ****

**Harriman didn’t answer, he could only wonder if this last attempt, this thrown to the winds effort would have greater success than the others.With a sigh, he continued to watch the shoreline come closer and closer. _Where the hell are you, Lee Crane?_**

**====================**

**Zorro mounted Tornado and rode out into the remnants of the dying storm toward San Pedro.A half-hearted growl of thunder sounded behind him, and a strong breeze tried to whip his hat away, but he continued on.It would be dark in only four or five hours and that time was precious if anyone could be coaxed to go out into the ocean toward Santa Rosa Island to look for Lee.He rode into the small port town along a lesser-used, narrow road parallel to the main road leading to the docks.He quickly reached the barn-like structure that served as the Costa’s fish house.It was here they cleaned, salted and packed the fish in heavy barrels for the large ships that came calling.Here the local cooks came to buy some of the fresher catches for their kitchens.**

**There was no activity outside and it was dim inside.No one was working since no boats would go out in this storm.There was a small amount of activity at the end of the building where boats were built and repaired.He approached in the shadows and saw Luis Costa overseeing a few workers repairing an older boat.**

**“Señor,” Zorro said softly as he drew closer.**

**Costa whirled around in surprise.“Zorro!”Then he quickly recovered.“Why are you here, señor?”** ****

**“A friend of mine is in trouble, I am afraid, and he probably needs your help.”** ****

**“Who, Señor Zorro?”** ****

**“The American captain.I rescued him from the former comandante, but this time my expertise will not help him.”** ****

**“He went out this morning and hasn’t returned,” Costa commented.“I hope he took refuge on one of the islands.”** ****

**Zorro nodded.“But perhaps there is time to take your boat and go check.I happen to know where he has been sailing recently.”** ****

**Costa hesitated a moment, then nodded.“Yes, it has calmed enough to go out.Where is this place?”** ****

**“Near Santa Rosa Island,” Zorro informed him.**

**“Even though it is late, we should go.Will you accompany us?”** ****

**This time Zorro hesitated, but he trusted Luis and was extremely anxious about Lee.“Yes.”** ****

**The door burst open and one of the other Costa brothers dashed toward Luis.Zorro melted back into the shadows.**

**“What is it, José?” Luis asked.**

**“There are strangers asking about an Americano.I did not know if they were friends or enemies of Capitán Crane, but told them you would be able to help them.They seemed most interested in him,” José explained.**

**Zorro thought about that, along with the information that Garcia had given him earlier about the arrival of a new comandante.This was worth waiting to find out more.**

**“They are on their way here?” Luis asked.** ****

**“Sí, Luis.They were not far behind.”And indeed, the door opened and three men entered.Zorro studied them as they approached.There was one, slightly shorter, dressed as a shopkeeper, another as a very poor peon.The one in the front of the group, a vaquero by the look of him, seemed to be the leader, or at least the spokesman.The stranger smiled and began speaking even before he reached Luis and his brother.There was something, though, that seemed familiar about the man, even as he realized that the vaquero was from someplace far from here.But what was familiar about him?Definitely if a vaquero, he was in charge of others.Maybe a head vaquero?Why such a diverse group?** ****

**Then Zorro focused on the man at his side, the merchant, who was watching and listening.He wondered why he had suddenly been drawn to a non-descript tradesman, if that was what he really was.Suddenly it dawned on him—none of these people were what they appeared to be.They didn’t seem totally comfortable in their clothing, as though these were just disguises.** ****

**“Señor, we were directed to you because we were told you could help us find a friend of ours,” the vaquero said.** ****

**“Who are you and why would an Americano be your friend?” Luis asked bluntly.** ****

**Zorro knew the fisherman had come to like Lee Crane in a sort of solicitous, big brother sort of way.Luis saw the capitán as an equal, and yet a somewhat misguided sibling.He had admired Lee’s boat, was in awe of the American’s skills with it and yet shook his head over Lee’s constant trips out on the ocean.Zorro knew that Luis especially saw the diving excursions as lunacy, but he had never tried to dissuade Lee, only wishing his friend God speed each time the Americano left the harbor.Luis was being very protective right now, almost bristling at the possible implications of these men looking for his friend.Zorro wasn’t sure that there was time for this, but he would wait for another minute or two.**

**The vaquero hesitated slightly.The merchant, or rather the man in the storekeeper’s guise lightly touched the spokesman on the arm and murmured something almost too soft to hear.But hear it Zorro did, and realized it was English.This then; the merchant, not the vaquero, was the leader of the group.The glimpse Zorro got when the man’s hat slipped back a little was that of someone with ruddy complexion and sky blue eyes.The man was trying very hard not to call attention to himself.Why?Perhaps it was because he was really an American who had recruited his companions to help him find Lee Crane.That would mean then that….**

**With the signal, the vaquero spoke.“I am Miguel Rojas, this is Jorge Morales,” he said, pointing to himself and then to the man in peon’s clothing.“And this is…”** ****

**“Admiral Harriman Nelson, I presume,” Zorro said in perfect English, divorcing himself from the shadows like a dark ghost to stand in front of the strangers.**  
  
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	14. A Matter of Time

A Matter of Time

**A Matter of Time**  
  
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**Seaman Kowalski**

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**CPO Francis Sharkey, COB of _SSRN Seaview_**  
  
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**Chapter 14**

**Everyone gaped at him for a moment, including the boat builders who had known Zorro was there.**

**“You are . . . real?” Nelson asked, very much taken aback.Then he seemed to shake himself out of his amazement.He studied the masked man carefully.**

**“Indeed,” responded Zorro with a reassuring smile.“And you give the same reaction your captain did when we met.“You are Admiral Nelson, are you not?Captain Crane gave a most complete description.”** ****

**“Yes, I am.But Lee, where is he?”** ****

**Zorro frowned.“Possibly in great danger, Admiral.He was in his boat diving near Santa Rosa Island when this very unusual storm hit.”** ****

**Nelson blanched.“No!”**

**“He did not make it back to harbor before the storm was upon us,” Zorro elaborated.I was here to ask Señor Costa to take his boat out to search.”**

**“Our submarine….”Here Nelson paused to see if he had lost the supposedly, but apparently, very real fictional character.**

**Shaking his head, Zorro only said, “If your _Seaview_ can find him faster, that is all the better.”He paused and then added.“He told me all about you and his vessel when we first met.”**

**Nelson pulled a small box from the inside of his jacket, then he gazed at the still gaping fishermen.**

**Zorro understood immediately what Nelson planned on doing. “I will explain something to them, Admiral.You do what you need to do.”**

**Nelson nodded and spoke into the device.Lee had told him about such communication devices but still it was a bit of a shock when Zorro heard a different voice speaking from it.**

**After the exchange, Nelson looked back up at the black clad man.“Would you like to accompany us, señor?” he asked, knowing that Zorro would not be overly frightened of the small, discreet motor they would use on the return to the submarine.**

**Without hesitation, Zorro answered, “Yes!”**

**=================================**

**Lee sat on the beach, just beyond the high tide, gazing out at the still boiling waves.He felt the bruises from the buffeting on his ribs; indeed, he felt bruised all over.The small craft, sturdily built as it had been, just hadn’t been able to withstand the fury of this storm.After the impact with the rock had stove in the side, Lee had leaped clear and swum ashore.Right now, in the growing light of the clearing sky, he could see nothing of his little boat.Apparently he had been lucky, the boat had been sucked back into the ocean.Diego had been right.He should have waited a day or two.**

**Only the idea that he had the resources to build another sailboat offered him any solace at all.That is if he got off this rock, he thought morosely.He got up and began to limp toward the interior, figuring he would be stuck here for the night at least.With surety, Diego would have Luis out searching for him, but it wasn’t that long before sunset and it would be highly dangerous for anyone to be out during the night.He growled an expletive as he stumbled and fell.The sand would not allow him to walk easily and his bum leg shot messages of pain up and down his side.Without the cane to help him, he wouldn’t be able to easily get off the beach.Two steps got him to a rock where he rested and looked back out to sea.**

**The sun was low and the western sky was a burnished gold reflecting on the remaining clouds.Lee began scanning the ocean to the south and east.The wind was rapidly dying and along with it, the waves’ choppiness.Despite the heat of the day, it would become cold during the night, especially since he had nothing on but his cut-off swimming pants.The sand would be warm for a while, and then he would just do the best he could.Studying the island terrain, Crane decided that he had better work his way toward the shrubs before it got too late.He checked the ocean one last time and was shocked to see a flashing wink of light to the southeast.A reflection on something?If so, it would be a metallic object.What would be metallic and on the ocean during this time?**

**Unable to believe what he saw, Lee continued to stare.He saw the reflection again and again as the sun slowly sank.When it came again after the sun had set, he found that he had been holding his breath.It was not just a reflection against something man made and it wasn’t something like a search party with a mirror.This was a man-made light and it wasn’t a torch or lantern, he was sure of it.Then what?Hope flared and almost closed his throat.What else?Could the _Seaview_ have made it?Was that what he was seeing?He continued watching.Again—another one.He mentally counted between the flashes.Another one.Waiting, then another one.It was on a cycle that was machine precise.**

**Painfully, Lee made his way up the top of a large boulder.He was sweating profusely by the time he made it and the light was fading rapidly, but still he scanned the area of the manifestation and was rewarded with a dark, indistinct shape barely illuminated against the flashing light.This was not an industrial society here in Mexican California. Agrarian to the hilt, they hadn’t even discovered gold yet.There were no real machines.Pulleys and winches served to augment muscle.So if that was a machine out there, something making that light appear in precise intervals, it could only mean one thing! _Seaview!_ It had to be!Half falling, half sliding, Lee made it back down to the tide line.He stumbled and then straightened up.**

**Crane looked around with a desperate eye.He had nothing to start a rescue fire with.There was no mirror to reflect the light and signal with, and even if he had one there was no light.He didn’t have his boat; he didn’t have his timepiece anymore.They wouldn’t have any notion that he would be on a non-inhabited island, and so wouldn’t be looking.He growled his frustration between clenched jaws.By the time daylight came again, they could be gone, having decided that he wasn’t around this place and time.There was only one thing he could even consider doing, as foolhardy as it seemed.**

**With increasing hope, Lee focused on the distant object and swam into the now more sedate surf.His strokes were sure and powerful, and he began swimming out, further and further from shore.Lee judged the sub to be about three quarters of a mile distant, maybe a bit more, but he was determined to do it.He had been working his muscles, had been diving at depths that insured the strengthening of his lungs and chest.His strokes were smooth, even as excitement increased the adrenalin that increased the power of his swimming.He could do it; he would do it.He had to do it or stay stranded forever.**

**Stroke, stroke, his mind chanted.Get there; keep going.Further, keep going; keep the rhythm.The admiral had come and it was up to Lee now to reach the boat.He felt his lungs expanding and contracting; his muscles were strong.He felt something brush against his leg, but couldn’t determine what it was.A shark?No, he wouldn’t think about that.He wasn’t in a dark wetsuit that seemed to attract them.Of course, a small part of his mind reminded him, it was dark, period.It was too late to think about that now.Either it was or it wasn’t.If the former, he was shark kibble.If not, a curious seal or otter or dolphin was just investigating him.He had seen all of these mammals in his dives and they had been curious, especially the otters and dolphins.**

**His lungs were beginning to labor to suck in enough air.Keep going, Lee continued to tell himself mentally.It was almost his mantra.There was a stitch in his side, but still he continued to swim.The thing that had touched him was gone.There had been no further disturbance.He continued, not knowing how far he had gone, only that he still had farther to go.When Lee thought he had gone the distance, he paused long enough, treading water to scan ahead of him.He sucked in air and tried to calm his heaving chest.The light flashed again, a bit more starboard, brighter, he thought.With a deep breath, Lee began swimming again.It was getting much harder to pull up the energy; he was swimming more slowly.It was mechanical by now, one arm ahead of the other.No thought, just one arm ahead of the other.He continued this way for another seeming eon.**

**Lee stopped again, panting.A wave slapped him in the face.He couldn’t see the light anymore.He couldn’t see anything in the darkness.It was all he could do to stay above water in the more choppy, cooler current.A little more . . . _Kowalski, can’t you pick me up on your scope?_ If he could just reach the side of the sub, he could create enough noise for someone to get curious.He began to swim again, but his arms were leaden.His legs were numb.It had been a good try….**

**Crane thought he heard something grinding when his head was underwater, but he was too busy trying to stay afloat to think about it.Just stay afloat.Rest; regain breath.Rest….**

| 

Flying Sub  
  
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**“Mr. Morton!” Kowalski called from his sonar station.**

**“Do you have something?” Morton asked, his anxiety level threatening his usual even-keeled equanimity.The exec rushed over to the sonar screen.Admiral Starke, gazing out of the observation windows, turned to watch.**

**“I’m not sure, sir.I have been picking up a variety of ocean life, mostly sea mammals, but there’s one I’m getting now that’s different.”**

**“A boat?” Chip asked.**

**“No sir, but it’s on the surface.It’s been pretty precise since I started getting it, but slow, extremely slow.It’s even slower now, almost at a stop not quite a mile starboard.”**

**“What direction?”**

**With his eyes still glued to the sonar screen, Kowalski answered.“Been coming directly toward us.From that island that the admiral asked us to check out.”**

**Chip sucked in a horrified breath.“How far is the island from our position?”**

**“About a mile and three quarters, Mr. Morton.”**

**Chief Sharkey was at Kowalski’s other shoulder.“Open the hatch to the Flying Sub,” Morton ordered him.“I’m taking her out now!”**

**“Sir?”Sharkey looked puzzled, but he turned to do the XO’s bidding.**

**Everyone else looked at the commander in bewilderment as well, except Admiral Starke, whose face had turned white in shock.“Kowalski, how fast would you say that object was traveling when you first noticed it?” Chip asked tersely.“About the speed of a good swimmer?”He didn’t wait for an answer.As soon as Sharkey had the hatch part way open, Chip was climbing down.**

**“You want me to come, too, sir?” the chief asked, still puzzled.**

**“Yes, I might need your help.”The hatch closed almost before the last syllable was uttered.**

**Kowalski continued to stare after the two men, even as the communicator came to life.A swimmer, he wondered.Then it dawned on him.“Oh, Lord,” he murmured.“Please let him get there quick.”**

**Morton was in the seat, had the throat mike around his neck and was flipping switches almost in one motion.He had not even buckled himself in when he called out, “Begin launch sequence . . . Now!”Before the electro-magnetic arm had fully extended, he called out, “Launch!”**

**The little craft shot out from under the belly of the submarine and toward the object in question.Chip didn’t take her above the surface; he could get there more quickly below the waves for the short distance he had to cover.“Get a fix on it, Chief,” he ordered.**

**“Aye, sir.”**

**“Distance.”**

**“875 yards and closing fast,” Sharkey quickly barked out.**

**Morton knew he couldn’t get more speed from the little craft, but he tried and heard the engines whine as the machine sped up the tiniest fraction.“Let me know when we’re right under the swimmer.”**

**“Swimmer, sir.Who . . . oh,” he ended in a tiny voice.“You think it’s the skipper.”**

**“Who else would be crazy enough to swim toward a flashing light in this time?”**

**“500 yards, Mr. Morton.”**

**Morton nodded.“ _Seaview_ , follow as quickly as you can and get Doc to the bridge,” he ordered over the communicator.He ignored the response.“Chief?”**

**“200 yards, 175 yards.”A slight pause.“100 yards.Skipper’s not moving, sir.”Sharkey lunged forward as though not believing what he was seeing.“Sinking!”Then he said, “We’re right under him!Take her up slow!”**

**“Don’t have time for cautious slow, just slow enough to keep him from sliding off,” Morton returned abruptly even as he worked the controls and eased the Flying Sub toward the surface.He cringed at the slight thump he heard, held his breath as he continued to rise toward the surface.“Get ready to open the top hatch, Chief!”Then the craft was on the top of the waves.**

**Sharkey opened up the top hatch so fast, the water sluiced inside.Chip was right behind him.In the dark it was impossible to make any kind of identification other than that this was a swimmer, but as the body began to slide back into the ocean, Sharkey grabbed an arm.Chip squeezed past him and onto the top of the Flying Sub.He grabbed Lee’s other arm and pulled him closer to the hatch where the chief could get a better grip.In the light of the interior lights, Chip made out dark curls.It had to be Lee!But the body was so limp; so deathly limp.“Let’s get him inside, then we can work on him!”**

**Sharkey got a good grip on the swimmer and began to descend back into the Flying Sub.Chip guided from the hatch only releasing the inert form when he saw Sharkey firmly on the deck with both hands free to hold Lee.He quickly climbed down, closing the hatch behind him.It was Lee!**

**“It’s the skipper, sir,” said the chief in an awed tone as he studied the man lying on the deck.There was no movement.**

**“But he’s not breathing,” Chip said as he jumped to the deck.“Turn him over and start first aid.I’ll get the oxygen.”He rushed toward a nearby cabinet, so very afraid that their rescue had been too late.**

**Sharkey shook himself out of his stupor and began the training he knew well enough to do in his sleep.With the skipper on his side, he slapped him on the back. Crane began coughing and retching the seawater he had swallowed when he had been unable to swim anymore.He continued gagging and bringing up seawater for several more minutes, while the two men supported him.**

**Chip supported his friend; indeed held him tightly as though Lee might disappear on him again.Did he think this day might never come?Yes, he had.He had despaired that his captain, his comrade in arms, his friend—was lost forever.Even as Lee gasped in air, choking out the last of the water in his lungs, Chip shoved the oxygen canister away with his foot.“You’re safe, Lee,” Chip said softly, kneeling by his commander’s side, still hanging on to him.“You’re safe.”**

**Crane finally took a shuddering breath and weakly tried to push himself upright.Chip helped him and let Lee lean against him. _He’s back!Thank God, he’s back!_ The seawater had soaked his uniform, but for once, Chip didn’t mind in the least; it only made the rescue more real.Lee shuddered, whether from his near drowning or from cold, Chip couldn’t tell. “Chief, get a blanket!”**

**“Aye, sir.”**

**Lee rubbed his eyes, pulled away slightly and then looked into the concerned, relieved and increasingly elated face of his exec and friend.“I . . . I was . . . right. _Seaview._ It was _Seaview._ ”He coughed again and then smiled weakly.**

**Chip nodded, unable to trust himself to speak at the moment.Then he did something that would have surprised anyone who didn’t know him well.He wrapped his arms around Lee in a fierce bear hug.“Damn, you’re a sight for sore eyes, Lee,” he said fervently, only loud enough for Lee to hear.He had dreamed of his friend often since Lee’s disappearance.Most of the time they were dreams of futility, nightmares, in reality.Chip prayed that this was not a dream.**

**Crane didn’t say a thing for a moment, only returning the heartfelt greeting Chip had given him—hanging on to the friend he didn’t think he’d ever see again.Finally, Lee pulled away.“Look . . . who’s talking.”He looked around and saw Sharkey, standing with a blanket in his hand, gaping at his long lost captain.“That for me?Hope so.I’m cold.”**

**“Oh, yes, sir.”Sharkey handed him the blanket, which Lee promptly wrapped around him.It was only then that the trio noticed the noise of frantic voices on the communicator.“I guess I’d better get that,” Sharkey said.**

**“I guess you’d better, Chief,” Lee said, gazing, almost in rapture around the craft he thought never to see again.Then his eyes shifted to the observation port where he saw the approach of the _Seaview_.**

**“Tell them that the mission was successful and that we’ll be back on board in a few minutes,” Chip said joyfully.**

**For his part, Lee was mesmerized at the sight of the _Seaview’s_ bow that loomed larger and larger in the view port of the Flying Sub.Finally the sub stopped about fifteen yards in front of them.He could see movement through the observation windows and felt his throat constrict with joy.“I knew she was beautiful, but never realized just how beautiful she was until now,” he murmured.**

**Chip followed his gaze even as cheers erupted over the radio.“Shall we go home, Lee?”**

**“Yes, please, Chip….”**  
  
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**[A Matter of Time One](http://www.bookscape.net/voyage/matter1.htm)**  
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	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

**A Matter of Time**  
  
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**Doc (Lt. Commander Will Jamieson)**  
  
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**Chapter 15**

**“How ‘bout you sit in a comfortable seat rather than on the cold deck,” Chip said with a smile, standing up.He held his hand out for Lee.**

**“Gladly,” Lee took the extended hand and allowed the exec to pull him to his feet.Immediately, he stumbled and almost fell.The strength was gone, especially in his injured leg.**

**“Whoa, lean on me.That swim had to have taken quite a bit out of you,” Morton said.Then he noticed just how much Lee was favoring his right leg.“You pull a muscle or something?”** ****

**“Or something,” Lee said as he sank into the nearest chair.The blanket still around him, Lee buckled the harness and heaved a deep sigh.He was surely going to sleep well tonight.And the thought of doing it in his own bunk was even more enticing.**

**Chip said nothing else, but concentrated on the short trip to the sub.“ _Seaview,_ ” he called.** ****

**“Yes, Mr. Morton,” Sparks replied.** ****

**“The skipper would appreciate a dry uniform when we arrive.And have Doc bring it.”He had been very much aware of the scars on Lee’s back, although he hadn’t said a word.However, he knew Lee well enough to know that the captain wouldn’t want the crew to see that part of his ordeal.** ****

**“Not necessary for Doc to bring my clothes, Chip,” Lee answered automatically, but even as he said it, he knew that Doc would be instantly aware, even as Chip had been, that there was a problem.**

**“We’ll let the CMO determine that one, Lee,” Chip said solicitously.He eased the Flying Sub into its cradle in the belly of the submarine.When everything had been shut down, Chip unbuckled his harness and swiveled around to meet Lee’s gaze.“How long were you here?” he asked bluntly.He motioned to Sharkey to open the hatch.** ****

**Lee did a bit of quick figuring.“Right about six months, give or take a day or two.”** ****

**“We are up on you a couple of months.Took the admiral about three months to get that damned watch put back together and tested, and then a month of searching.You don’t know how lucky you were.This was the last jump we could make on the fuel we had.And the scuttle-butt was that we wouldn’t have been able to come back.”** ****

**“It expended that much?” Lee asked incredulous.Somehow he was surprised that the admiral had been able to devote that much time to a rescue attempt.Then he realized something.“Where is the admiral?”** ****

**“He went on shore with Rojas and Morales to inquire after you.He evidently found someone with some information, because he sent us toward Santa Rosa Island.”He cocked his head slightly in thought.“Why didn’t you signal us?”** ****

**“With what?No means of starting a fire on the beach, even if it hadn’t stormed and gotten everything wet.My sailboat wrecked in the storm.I thought this might be my only chance.I think I misjudged the distance _Seaview_ was from shore.”** ****

**“I think you did, too,” Chip said with a smile.“But that was quite a swim you made with a bum leg, Lee.”** ****

**“You noticed.”It was a statement, not a question.** ****

**“Figured either that or you had a major muscle cramp, and you didn’t act like you had that.”** ****

**“Long story.Remind me to tell it to you when I’m dry, had some sleep and gotten past Doc.”** ****

**Chip laughed.It felt good to laugh.It felt good to just sit and banter.“First two are easy, the last is a bit more difficult.And speaking of the devil….”** ****

**Doc descended the ladder with a bundle in his arms.He handed it to Lee, then pulled out his stethoscope, his face devoid of emotion.But he didn’t do anything, just stared at the captain.**

**“Look, Doc, I know I need a hair cut, but, uh….”** ****

**“Skipper, you can’t imagine just how wonderful it is to have you back on board,” Doc said, his voice breaking slightly before he got down to business.**

**“Yes, I can,” Crane answered fervently.Suddenly, he was eager to get out of the Flying Sub and up to see the men.Doc motioned him to sit still while he used his stethoscope.** ****

**“Lungs are excellent, despite swallowing sea water and swimming that distance.You’ve been doing a great deal of free diving, haven’t you?”** ****

**“What other kind would I do in this time and place?” asked Lee with a chuckle.As Doc pulled the stethoscope away, Lee pulled on a tee shirt and then his uniform shirt.He paused as he buttoned his shirt.This was his shirt, pressed and ready, with his insignia on the collar.It had come from his small closet in his own cabin—on board his Gray Lady.How often had he dreamed of doing the same thing, the mundane things that he had never thought about before?Dressing, walking the corridors, feeling the vibration beneath his feet, the cool wafting of recycled air on his cheek.Lee ran his hand down the front of his shirt, tried to control the slight trembling of his fingers as he did so; tried to control the emotions that threatened to topple his slight hold on decorum.Then he examined the shiny leather shoes at his feet, the pants on his lap.So mundane and yet so important right now.**

**“I want you directly in sickbay for a more thorough examination,” Doc ordered, bringing the captain out of his reverie.** ****

**Lee only nodded as he pulled on his pants.He easily got the sock and shoe on his left foot, but struggled with the other foot.Chip and Doc watched, but said nothing.It was as though they realized the importance that this small event was to the former castaway in time.When Lee was done, he carefully stood up and limped to the ladder.**

**“You negotiate that?” Doc asked.**

**Lee frowned, and then just nodded.Sharkey, he noticed, had already gone above and was waiting.He eased his way up, letting his arms do most of the work, and then he took the chief’s outstretched hand for help the rest of the way.He was speechless when he saw the control room packed with men, and almost overcome when they burst into spontaneous cheers.Quickly swiping an arm over his face, he accepted Sharkey’s salute with one of his own.Then he laughed in gratitude as well as relief.“Since we’re doing this all backwards, do I have permission to come aboard?”** ****

**“Of course, Captain,” Starke said from among the crowd.**

**Lee turned and gaped at him in astonishment.“Admiral Starke?”** ****

**“I came along for moral support, Captain.”** ****

**Crane nodded and turned back to the crowded control room.“You can’t imagine how good it is to see all of you,” Lee said to the assembled men.“There wasn’t a day I didn’t think about this beautiful boat and all of your lovely faces.”That elicited a laugh.“Now, I think Doc has something in mind and you know how the CMO is when he’s kept waiting.”More laughter.**

**He began to limp through the sea of men.He received many claps on the back and words of welcome.When he thought he couldn’t go any further, he suddenly found Kowalski by his side.“Use my shoulder, Skipper.”**

**Lee nodded and draped his arm over Ski’s shoulder.“Carry on,” he told the crowd with a smile.He was beginning to think, as they left the control room, that all of the men were forward.By the time they reached the corridor leading to sickbay, he was also beginning to think that he wasn’t going to make it.He was totally wrung out.Finally, they entered the room and Chip helped Kowalski get him to a bunk.He leaned back against the bulkhead and felt the sounds of the boat lulling him into somnolence.** ****

**“Not yet, Captain.I want to enjoy this moment before you peacefully and without fuss, sack out on me,” Doc said sardonically.“I know you just got it on, but would you take off your uniform.I want to do a more thorough exam.”** ****

**“I can’t believe all the men back there,” Lee said, his voice barely above a whisper.He appeared not to have heard the doctor’s instructions.**

**“Most of the men have been working without pay this past month to save the admiral money in the search,” Doc told him.“Just thought you should know that, Lee."**

**Lee sat quietly for a moment.Everything was so overwhelming.“I, uh, don’t know what to say.”**

**“Don’t say anything, Lee,” Chip replied in a soft voice.“We all know you would have done the same for any one of us.”** ****

**When Doc reminded him of his previous directive, he began to unbutton his shirt.He was slow, but this time it wasn’t because he was savoring the moment.Chip helped him and Lee didn’t protest.Doc examined his knee, bent his leg, felt up and down his thigh.Crane sucked in his breath a time or two, but otherwise sat quietly.Doc frowned as he checked his back, but made no comment.All that could be heard in the room were the muted sounds of the sub in full operation.Finally Jamieson handed Lee a pair of comfortable scrubs, stepped back and leaned against his desk.Chip sat quietly in a nearby chair.** ****

**“Now, Lee,” Doc asked.“Tell me what happened to your leg.Without an X-ray, it appears like a very badly healed break.”** ****

**“It is.”Lee explained what had happened as he pulled on the clothes.He ended with, “So while you went to all the trouble to rescue me, this time on _Seaview_ is just a temporary respite, I’m afraid.”** ****

**“Don’t give up yet.You are the man who just swam a mile with a bad leg to get here.We’re not out of options yet.Now let me get a blood sample.”** ****

**“While I get back to my watch,” Chip said, getting up.**

**“Coward!” Lee said with mock derision, using Doc’s optimism to push aside his previous dark thoughts.Chip just laughed as he and Kowalski walked out of the sickbay.**

**=============================**

**Zorro was amazed at the craft in which he was sitting next to the American admiral.It was all he could do to keep from reaching out and continually touching the pliant sides of the little boat.The soft muttering of what the admiral had called a motor was even and propelled them forward through the dark waters with apparent ease.**

**The man beside him had been silent since they had left.Finally, though, in Spanish, “Are you comfortable, sir?”** ****

**“Yes.This is an amazing craft.”He responded in English out of respect to the admiral.** ****

**Nelson chuckled.“Wait ‘til you see _Seaview_.”** ****

**“Lee has told me so much about your marvelous submarine.”** ****

**“And I am curious,” Nelson began.“As to whether the rest of the mythos is true.”** ****

**“You mean as to who I am?”Zorro remembered the shock of Lee knowing who he was and realized that everyone on Lee’s ship would also know and for the same reason.He pulled off the mask.“Yes.Diego de la Vega at your service.”** ****

**“Intriguing,” was all Nelson would say.The other two men silently manned the little boat.**

**A light began to flash ahead of them, winking in a precise, timed pattern.They drew closer and closer, and muted windows appeared in the front of a dark, looming object in the water.If he had not been told about the windows, Diego would have thought he was being guided into the reach of some kind of baleful sea monster.As they drew closer, Diego saw men on board the large object, _Seaview_ , waiting for them.Morales threw a rope to the waiting sailors and the little craft was quickly secured.Outstretched hands helped them aboard the ship, and Diego stood on the metal deck and stared in the almost complete darkness with something akin to awe tinged with a little fear.**

**“Admiral, Captain Crane is aboard,” one of the sailors announced.** ****

**That explained their proximity to San Pedro. _Seaview_ had returned to rendezvous with them as soon as Lee had been rescued.“How is he, Patterson?” Nelson asked.** ****

**“He looked exhausted, but then he swam about a mile or so to meet us.Other than that and an injured leg, he seemed to be doing pretty good, sir.”** ****

**“Excellent!In sickbay?” the admiral asked his voice suddenly filled with joy.**

**“Yes, sir,” Patterson answered.**

**Nelson turned to Diego.“Would you care to come below decks and see what we have?”** ****

**Part of him wanted to flee this dark metal tomb, but the other, more intellectual part wanted to make sure that Lee was all right.And he was curious as well to see what it was for which Lee had such an affinity.“Yes, I would, Admiral,” he responded, pulling off his gloves and pushing the hat back.The mask was stuffed inside his shirt, the gloves in his waistband.The sword would remain by his side unless it got in the way.** ****

**“All right, come aboard then,” Nelson said.**

**They entered through a doorway in a part of the submarine that Diego remembered Lee describing and calling the conning tower.From there they went down a ladder into a room that was crowded with all sorts of blinking, winking lights, noises and men—the control room, he named quickly.Things whirred, buzzed, muttered and tapped.He wondered just how they managed to work this vessel under such crowded, noisy conditions and then Diego remembered that Lee said this submarine was roomier than most such ships.Several of the men turned to peruse him, but didn’t gawk, for which he felt duly grateful.** ****

**“Follow me, Señor de la Vega,” the admiral beckoned Diego, pointing to an open, narrow door.They followed several other corridors and down a staircase and were soon in a room that Diego knew was similar in function to Dr. Avila’s office.Lee sat on one of the narrow beds, leaning wearily against a wall.When he saw Diego and the Admiral he straightened up, smiling.**

**Nelson strode over to his captain and stopped right in front of him.He reached out and laid a hand on Lee’s arm.At first it was like touching a ghost, then the admiral reached to grasp Lee firmly, drawing him fiercely into a welcoming embrace. Crane reciprocated and Harriman felt the strong beat of the other man's heart. He remembered that he had an audience and slowly pulled back.“I . . . I was beginning to think this reunion would never take place.Thank God I was wrong.It’s so good to see you, Lee.”**

**Crane laid his hand on the admiral’s arm, he, too, rejoicing in the reunion.“I thought it never would either, Admiral,” Lee replied, almost shyly.He looked toward the floor.“I kept hoping, but I also felt it was unfair . . . to expect so much.I . . . uh, appreciate everything you’ve done to find me.I know it couldn’t have been easy.”** ****

**“Maybe not, but it was worth every minute and every penny.The idea of you stuck somewhere in the past was . . . truly unbearable to me.” He saw the exhaustion on Crane’s face.“Right now, though, you need to get some sleep.”**

**Crane gazed over the admiral’s shoulder into Diego’s face.“Yes, Admiral, I’m tired, but I know that Diego will need to go home before daylight.”** ****

**Diego nodded.“I left Tornado hidden.The longer I am away, the greater the chance that he will be discovered.”** ****

**“I figured as much,” replied Lee.“And I refuse to be asleep when you leave.”** ****

**Doc started to protest, but Nelson waved him off.“Maybe it would be more comfortable in my cabin for a while.Cookie can send some coffee up and you can relax on my bunk if you get too tired,” he suggested to his captain.** ****

**Doc sighed and then nodded.“A couple of hours aren’t going to hurt anything.But I want you on crutches, Captain.Until I can examine that injury more closely, I want you off that leg.”**

**With that pronouncement, Lee started to protest, but a look from Nelson stopped him before he opened his mouth.Immediately, Crane saw the wisdom of discretion right now.He accepted the crutches that Doc handed him.They didn’t need to be adjusted, he thought wryly.They were ones he had used before.“Diego, why don’t you take a tour of the sub?Then you’ll see what I have been boring you and your father with for these past six months.”** ****

**“But not with you as the guide, Skipper,” Doc declared.This time Lee knew that no one would overrule him.**

**“I would be happy to take you around the _Seaview_ , Diego.That way, Lee can get settled in my cabin and we can all talk for a while when we’re done,” Nelson said diplomatically.**

**Suddenly Lee began laughing.Everyone in the room gazed at him in puzzlement as the laughter continued for another moment.When he had gained control, he simply said, “It’s so good to be back home.”With that he headed toward the door.Diego and the admiral followed him.**  
  
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	16. A Matter of Time

A Matter of Time

**A Matter of Time**  
  
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****

**Chapter 16**

**Despite reassurances to the doctor, Lee tagged along behind the admiral and Diego.Finally the admiral stopped and faced him.“I seem to have heard the CMO telling you not to go on this tour.”**

****

**“No, Admiral, the CMO said I wasn’t to be the tour guide,” Crane corrected.**

**“You know what he meant,” Nelson said, his mouth curved into a knowing smile.**

**“I know what he meant, sir, but I have been dealing with this for five months.One more hour isn’t going to make a great deal of difference.”Lee stood resolute.He still felt the effects of the past several hours, but he had gained his second wind and he was determined to accompany Diego around the boat.“It’s the least I owe Diego after telling him so much about the Gray Lady all these months.”**

**Despite Lee’s quick reply, Nelson knew just what was behind that reply.Lee was like a man in the desert, grasping for the elusive drink of water.Now that he had received that cup, he couldn’t get enough, he wanted more. “Doc may have our hides tacked up on the barn door, but let’s go.”**

**“Aye, aye, sir!” Lee replied with a soft laugh.**

**With that the admiral led the way to various rooms, allowing Lee to explain what they were for.Diego was totally overwhelmed.Corridors seemed to turn on themselves, while the rooms appeared relentlessly small.It amazed him that in Lee’s day, this vessel was considered spacious.**

**“This is the missile room,” Lee explained as Diego gazed around in the relatively large room in wonder.He pointed to the small submersible on one side of the room.“There is the mini-sub, which we can use to explore and retrieve items at deeper depths than a man in a wetsuit can go.”**

**“Wetsuit?” Diego asked.**

**“Remember I talked about the equipment I used to dive with?” Lee asked.Diego nodded.Lee pointed to a rack on a nearby wall.“Those are wetsuits.We use them for protection at deeper reaches than I could have dreamed of going holding my breath.There are the tanks that hold the air supply.It’s a heckuva lot more efficient than bear grease or tallow.”**

**Diego looked at the suits in wonder, touched one of the cold metal tanks and gazed at the pliable fins and clear glass-like faces of the masks.“No wonder you felt as though you were under-equipped to go into the ocean.”**

**“We have the means to see in the darker depths, the means to take pictures of, or rather preserve the things we see underwater,” Lee elaborated.“We have the ability to talk to one another and to the _Seaview_ while we are diving.”**

**“Why do you call this a missile room?” Diego asked.“Do you mean projectiles such as those that are shot out of cannons and the like?”**

**“A tiny bit.”Lee then launched into what he hoped was a simple explanation of deterrents and defense.They then headed to the laboratory and then stopped at the reactor room door.“This is what powers the _Seaview_.”**

**Diego stared into the room through the door that that the admiral had opened slightly for him to get a glimpse.The room seemed to emanate power, throb with something dangerous.He remembered Lee telling him how deadly this type of power could be and he backed away a step.The admiral closed the door and Diego saw Lee leaning against the wall—bulkhead, he remembered them calling it.His friend was almost ashen in color and Diego knew he was at the end of his endurance.He turned to the admiral, not wanting to insult either man, but realizing that the tour needed to end for Lee’s sake.“This is a wondrous ship, Admiral.I can see why you are proud of it.My sincerest thanks, Lee, for showing me this marvel.I can see that your love for her is so much akin to my love of the land.”**

**“Shall we go forward?” the admiral asked, seeing the same thing that Diego had noticed.Lee took a deep breath and nodded.As they approached the officer’s cabins, Nelson stopped.“Captain, I think it’s time to obey the doctor’s orders.I will finish the tour of the control room and the Flying Sub and bring Diego back to have some coffee in my cabin.”He had strategically stopped in front of his cabin door.**

**Lee simply nodded.“Don’t take too long.I’ll have someone in the mess bring us some coffee.”**

**A short time later, the three men sat comfortably in Nelson’s cabin.The coffee had already been delivered and it appeared that Lee had finished a cup.“Are you comfortable, Diego?” the admiral asked.**

**“Yes, I have enjoyed being here very much, but as much as I hate to inconvenience you, I will have to leave soon.”Diego turned to Lee.“I can also assume you will remain?”**

**“Yes, Diego.You will have to give my regards and good wishes to your father, as well as to Bernardo and the others.I was so fortunate to have been found at all, so I’m not going to tempt fate by venturing off the _Seaview_ until we have returned to our own time.”Lee wondered if he should even venture the thought that was in his mind, but then decided not to.Just as he could have made changes in the future by just being here, so, too, could Diego leaving this time cause changes.**

**As though reading his mind, Diego asked."Please do not offer the wonders of the future to me, my friend. While it is tempting, my place, my people are here-- just as your place is in this marvelous ship and in your own time."He smiled his reassurance.**

**"I am that transparent?"**

**“Yes," Diego replied with a laugh.“I certainly do not blame you for wanting to stay with your _Seaview_ , Lee,” Diego added.“And it’s probably just as well.Sgt. Garcia told me yesterday that a new comandante was arriving any day, one whose reputation rivals Ruiz.”**

**Lee grimaced.“My condolences,” he said sardonically.Nelson looked questioningly at him.“The reason for this,” Lee added, pointing to the injured leg.“I’ll tell you the whole story after I get a bit of shut eye.”**

**“When you are ready, Lt. Rojas and Seaman Morales will go ashore with you,” the admiral told their guest.“In the darkness, they will most likely be able to go directly anywhere you want to land.They will make sure you get safely on your way before they return.”Diego nodded. He seemed nervous, almost eager to leave the confines of the sub.**

**Lee understood the look very well.Diego missed his open spaces, his rancho and his duties to the people he knew and understood.Despite his own homesickness the past six months, despite the pain he had suffered, Lee was still going to miss this time and place.Maybe that was too general, he thought.He was going to miss Diego and Alejandro, Luis and Bernardo.They would be long dead when he returned to the Institute.Lee found that thought very depressing and he tried to shove it away.**

**“What about the treasure?” Diego asked, breaking into Lee’s reverie.**

**At this the admiral raised his eyebrows in astonishment.“What treasure?” Nelson asked, studying his captain carefully.**

**“I found the wreck of the _Orbe de Oro._ The last couple of artifacts that I was bringing up when the storm hit proved it.”He shrugged.“I was mainly down there for the adventure, and for something to do that, uh, might be called useful.”**

**Diego knew what else was behind those words, but didn’t say anything.He thought he saw in Admiral Nelson’s eyes the same understanding.**

**After a while, Lee focused back to Diego’s earlier question.“I know you and your father will make good use of what I brought up.I’m not worried about it at all.I certainly don’t need it.I have all I could ever want right here.”It grew silent for several moments.Diego sipped the last of his now almost cold coffee.**

**Nelson looked at the two men and then looked at his watch.“I don’t want to rush you, but I think within the next hour would be a good time for you to return to shore, Señor de la Vega,” he said.**

**“Yes, Admiral, I think you are right.”Diego looked at Lee, who despite the coffee was seriously fighting sleep.He stood up.“Lee, you cannot imagine the honor I have felt at being able to know you these past six months.”**

**“The honor has been mine, my friend,” Lee said in Spanish, also arising.“Even as I rejoice in my rescue, feel the comforting embrace of my home….”Here he gestured at the walls around him.“I will miss you terribly.You have been the only thing keeping me sane during my exile.Yours and your father’s graciousness are much more than I deserved.”**

**“Lee,I have learned so much from you and after meeting your friends….”He nodded to the admiral.“And seeing this creation of the minds of men, I have great hopes for my children.”He repeated his words in English.“It is time for me to go.”**

**“Why don’t we head back to sickbay, before Doc comes after us,” Nelson suggested.“I’ll have the skiff prepared for departure.”**

**Lee nodded and took up his crutches.Diego opened the door for him and they all headed back the way they had come a couple of hours before.**

**“I was wondering when you were coming back, Captain,” Doc growled good-naturedly when they entered sickbay.**

**“At least you didn’t have to page me,” Lee retorted wearily.**

**“No, but you’re here and I need you to get some serious sack time.That way I can keep an eye on you and prevent anymore excursions against my orders.”**

**Lee was surprised at the doctor’s knowledge, but then again, there was little that Jamieson missed.“I would love to sleep in my own bunk, Doc,” Lee replied, knowing that he was whistling in the wind for all that the CMO would honor his request.**

**“Uh, uh, you’re here for the night, Captain,” Jamieson said.**

**Lee just shrugged and turned to his friend.For a moment, he didn’t say anything.“Diego, I guess it’s time to say good-bye,” he finally said.**

**“Yes, but I have the great pleasure of knowing that you will be safely returning home,” Diego said, laying his hand on his American friend’s shoulder.**

**“Thanks.And you be careful.You carry a great weight on your shoulders.”**

**“Somehow, I suspect that in your own way, you do, too,” Diego returned.**

**“Bunk, Captain,” Doc ordered.Lee sighed and did as he was told.**

**“I’m going to give you an IV to balance the electrolytes, among other things.”He held up a hypodermic and without preamble, stuck it in Crane’s arm.“And something to let you sleep for more than a few hours.”**

**“Wait a minute!” Lee protested.“I wasn’t finished.”Whatever it was, it was fast.Almost immediately, Lee yawned and lay down.Within a short time, he was asleep.**

**Nelson pulled a blanket over his captain and then turned to the doctor.“Jamie, I’m sorry that I didn’t introduce you two formally.This is Diego de la Vega,” he said.Diego nodded his head slightly.“Señor de la Vega was responsible for keeping Lee alive.”**

**“We couldn’t prevent everything that happened to him, though,” Diego said sadly.**

**“Oh, you mean the leg?” Doc asked.**

**“Yes.”**

**“Well, it would be easy to be angry with the doctor who worked on Lee’s leg, but I can’t, considering the time and place.I am amazed at how well it healed.As to the future….”Doc winced at the reference to time.They had been jumping around so much he sometimes wasn’t sure if they had been coming or going.“Anyway, as to the future of his leg, I would need detailed diagnostics, but I believe his knee is in fine shape.The workouts in the ocean took care of what I believe was damaged ligaments.And I am just giving an educated guess, but I also suspect that the pain and leg weakness are mainly from the area of the broken bone.If that is true, then it would be a fairly easy thing to reset the bone and let it heal right this time.”**

**“I do not understand,” Diego blurted out in surprise.“Reset an already healed bone?”**

**“Mmm, yes.It entails a bit of recovery time, also some discomfort.The bone would have to be re-broken.”**

**“You can do that?”Diego was incredulous.**

**Doc nodded and smiled reassuringly.“Happens naturally sometimes.You know, someone breaks a bone that was broken before.Anyway, this can be dealt with when we return to our time.”**

**Diego was elated that his friend would be able to continue the job that he loved so much.He gazed at his sleeping friend and then turned back to the admiral.“I am ready to go home, just as you and your men are.”**

**Nelson nodded."I don't think that Pem could have failed more then he did by dropping Lee in your time.I cannot tell you enough how grateful I am that you helped him--saved him."Harriman could see the depth of friendship that the two men had developed in the six months that Lee had been in this time and place.He also had trouble controlling the gratitude that he felt toward this surprising man."Thank you, Diego."**

**Diego reached out his hand."Take care of him, please, Admiral Nelson." They shook hands and then he unhooked the belt holding his sword and handed the weapon in its sheath to the admiral.“Please give this to Lee.He was a fine student and a good and loyal friend.”The admiral nodded and took the gift with a solemnity befitting the bestowal of a medal of honor.**

**Two hours later, Zorro was riding north on Tornado, who had been more than happy to see him.Liberated from his hiding place, the black stallion flew up the north road that paralleled the shoreline.In the distance, he saw the steady-paced winking of the light atop the giant submarine; the same pulsing light that had drawn his friend.After several miles of steady galloping, he paused atop a tall bluff, watching, almost mesmerized by the flashing light.The sea breeze puffed his sleeves and tried to lift his hat.It was refreshing, even as he knew that he needed to be going back home.There was something that kept him from leaving, however; something that would not allow him to depart until he knew that Lee had left his time.The light seemed to diminish a little, but still shone enough for Zorro to continue counting the flashes.Then an hour before dawn, the light vanished.Zorro continued to watch, but it was gone and he knew that Lee and his friends were back in their own time.He turned and galloped toward home.**  
  
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**[Epilogue](http://www.bookscape.net/voyage/matter17.htm)**  
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	17. Epilogue

Epilogue

**A Matter of Time**  
  
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**Epilogue**

**Lee stood at the edge of the beach, wishing he could simply go out and enjoy the waves.The walking cast chafed and even though he could easily get around almost anywhere now, including conducting inspections on the _Seaview_ , he couldn’t negotiate sand and wasn’t going to begin to incur Doc’s wrath.Besides, he was more than eager to follow directions so that he could get back to work.Despite the fact they had arrived back home slightly earlier than they had left due to the anomalies of the strange timepiece, it had been almost eight months for him since he had fully captained his ship.**

**He let the wind ruffle his hair and tug at his uniform.It was freshening, building, becoming more insistent.There might be a squall passing through this afternoon.After his time in the past, he wasn’t going to even begin to outguess the weather anymore.As though reading his mind, Chip spoke from behind him, “Clouds are building, Lee.I think maybe we’d better head back to the Institute.”** ****

**“Yeah, I know.”He watched the clouds galloping like dark stallions and was reminded of Zorro and Tornado. _So long ago, and yet just like yesterday._ When he had awakened after his friend had left, the admiral had already seen Diego safely back on shore, been able to get some readings, recover a few artifacts that _Seaview_ had detected and had transferred the sub back to the present day.At the time, Lee had been rather put out, but it all passed in his quest to regain the health needed to do what he loved most.Occasionally, though, he wondered how Diego had fared, how long he had continued in his role and what had become of their land.**

**He had done a bit of genealogical research into Church and civic records right after Doc had worked on his leg and discovered that Diego had finally married and had a couple of children—a boy and a girl.The girl had married and inherited the land, a vast holding as he had suspected.A lack of information on the boy told Lee that he had most likely not lived to adulthood.That was as far as he had gone.Perhaps he should do some more research.He would have time, since _Seaview_ was going on a shakedown run day after tomorrow and Doc most likely would veto his presence on board.Or probably it would be easier to just hire a genealogist to do the job.There were excellent ones in the area, people who knew what they were looking for and wouldn’t be spinning their wheels like he might.** ****

**Mentally shrugging, he limped back to Chip’s car and got in.That was something else he missed—driving himself.He couldn’t wait.Lee watched the roadside scenery in wonder, just as he had for the last two months that he had been back.Something about being stranded in a more desolate, wilderness time zone did that, he thought sardonically.**

**"Only another week or so, eh, Lee?" Chip asked, misinterpreting his gaze.**

**"I hope so."He paused."I was just thinking how wonderful all of this is—and how good it is to be back home."** ****

**Chip nodded.Lee had given him complete details of his six-month ordeal and Chip got the intense impression that most of his friend's emotions dealt with the fact that he had felt keenly the despair of being stranded.Chip could not get over the fact they had found him by virtue of a chance drop of a pen.Their stop at the beach hadn’t been far from the Institute and the two men were soon riding the elevator in the administration building to their adjacent offices.Tish was waiting for them with a strange look on her face.**

**"What's up, Tish?" Lee asked.**

**"A lawyer is in the admiral's office waiting for you, Lee," she replied.**

**"Me?"** ****

**"Yes, you.And she wouldn't say what it was for either, just that she would only speak with you."** ****

**"Well," Lee began, picking up on Tish's 'she'."I guess we shouldn't keep her waiting."** ****

**The three of them walked into the admiral's spacious office where a beautiful, dark-eyed, auburn-haired young lady was chatting with Admiral Nelson.Both stood up when the trio arrived.**

**"Lee, I would like to introduce you to Marguerita Herrera," Nelson said.** ****

**"Pleased to meet you, Ms. Herrera," Lee said politely, extending his hand.His curiosity was overwhelming, but he wasn't going to say anything until she gave some clue as to her reason for being here. His mind tried to go back to anything in his past that might have angered someone enough to want to sue him.** ****

**"Ms. Herrera is the daughter of Tomás Herrera," the admiral continued."He was the owner of various businesses and no small amount of real estate."** ****

**Still didn't ring a bell."What can I do for you, ma'am?" Lee asked.**

**"Captain Crane, my father died recently," she began.** ****

**"My condolences," Lee responded immediately, but sincerely.** ****

**"Thank you, Captain.One of the things that he left in his will was a request that I deliver a special document and a box to you.It was a dated request.Ironically, his death corresponded to the date within a few months."** ****

**"Maybe we should sit down, Ms. Herrera," Lee suggested, his curiosity building like a prairie storm.**

**"Yes,” she said, studying him intently.She was very carefully schooling her emotions, so Lee couldn't tell if she was curious, irritated or . . . something else.She sat down on the couch; Lee sat down across from her, slightly frustrated at how awkwardly he was doing it.Chip and Tish found seats nearby.** ****

**"Please, just call me Lee," he said, studying her as well.She held herself with an almost instinctive or natural grace.There was something familiar about it, and intriguing.He pulled himself back to the matter at hand.“Why would your father leave anything to me?”** ****

**"I really don’t know, Captain.I’m afraid that I’m not aware of the purpose of the document, either, so I am as puzzled as you are.My father told me a few months ago, when he knew he was dying, that it had been passed down for five generations in our family," she said with the barest hint of a smile, ignoring his request.“I had heard rumors of it, but had never seen it.Really, I think no one but my father and mother had since my grandfather died.”** ****

_**Five generations?**_ **Lee started to do some quick math, but didn’t finish.Everyone was gazing at him in abject curiosity.Only the admiral appeared unruffled.He had figured out something—put two and two together and discovered the answer to another of the universe’s little problems as he often did."I would be lying if I said I wasn't curious," Lee simply admitted. "Why a dated request?I am not aware of anything special about today."** ****

**"It was a general date, Captain Crane," she said."Basically it was a 'do not open until after a certain month and year' type of thing.Perhaps I should give you the document and that might explain a great many things to both of us.”She reached into her attaché case and pulled out a manila envelope.**

**She handed it to Lee and he opened it up.Inside was an over-large envelope that was yellowed with age.It had a wax seal and had his name and rank written in flowing handwriting on the front, along with the words, ‘Submarine _Seaview_ , Santa Barbara.’The ink was a bit faded as well, and he realized in shock that it was probably the same age as the envelope.There was only one person….He simply stared at the envelope for a moment.** ****

**“Do you understand what this is about, Captain?” Marguerita asked him, breaking his reverie.**

**“I think I might,” Lee said, his voice low and distant, his memories carried back more than a hundred and fifty years ago.He opened it and saw the flowing, although somewhat shaky script of his friend, Diego, reaching out to him from across days and decades.It had only been two months, and yet . . . and yet, it was several lifetimes.He looked back up and gazed at the admiral, who simply nodded.He turned his gaze to the woman still studying him.“You are about to enter a strange and fantastic history, Ms. Herrera.I will try to explain as best as I can, but let me read the document first.”** ****

**“Marguerita, please, Cap . . . uh, Lee,” she said and then nodded for him to continue.**

**Lee turned back to the document and began reading.He noticed the date.Diego had had a long life, he noted.That pleased him greatly as he had been worried that his friend’s clandestine activities might cut his life way too soon.“April 25 th, 1855.My dear friend, Lee.As you warned, there did come a time when hardship would ride on our shoulders.It came with your own people.With your warning and the treasure that you left with us came the solution.The right people were bribed, the land grants changed to allow us to keep our precious land.My daughter and her husband now continue the job of working the land that my father began.My grandchildren will continue after them.The rancho prospers and has even increased in size.You cannot imagine my gratitude.The land is the lifeblood of my family just as the sea is ever yours.Please accept my thanks in words as well as in the box that has been set aside for the time I have instructed my children and their children’s children to give it to you.Know that my good wishes for your continued service to your magnificent _Seaview_ follows you through the years.Your devoted servant and friend, Diego.”** ****

**He looked up and saw Marguerita studying him intently a variety of emotions crossing her face, including shock.He leaned toward Tish and gave her whispered instructions.The secretary left.“Marguerita, I told you it was a strange story, but I knew your ancestor, Diego de la Vega.I was a guest in his house for about six months in 1825.That’s where I got this,” he explained, pointing to the cast.“And you do know that this is in confidence.”She still looked shocked but she nodded slightly for him to continue.“Such a device like the one that sent me back to old California would be dangerous in the hands of an enemy.”He smiled softly.“In fact it was an enemy that sent me back to that time and place.It took Admiral Nelson a great deal of hard work to find me.I owe Diego and the admiral a great deal for saving my life.”** ****

**Her eyes looked as though she had a million questions, but she simply asked, “This seems totally unbelievable, but this treasure my great, great, great grandfather mentioned?”** ****

**“The treasure was what I found when I was free diving around Santa Rosa Island—it was something I did because it was the only thing I could do then.”**

**“Which treasure, Lee?” she asked, her voice low.**

**“You have no idea what’s in that box Diego spoke of?” he asked.She shook her head.“The treasure of the _Orbe de Oro._ ”**

**She gasped.“The instructions over the years were that the strong box was to be kept safe, locked and never opened until it was handed over to the person whose name was on the document.”She then indicated a non-descript, portable file-sized box that was sitting on a wheeled luggage carrier.** ****

**“And being honorable like Diego, you followed the instructions to the letter,” Lee stated.** ****

**“Yes.But even had we known exactly what was in it—and believe me, my parents and I knew it was something valuable—we wouldn’t have done anything different.”** ****

**Lee believed her.That Diego would have some of the treasure left over astonished him.He didn’t think it had been that much.Then he thought of the value of something that had been missing that long and he sucked in his breath.**

**She smiled.“Would you care to open it?” she asked, handing him an old-fashioned key.** ****

**“Yes, although I know what is in it.”He moved to a chair next to the box and stuck the key in the lock.It had been oiled and opened easily.Inside was most of the treasure he had pulled from the ocean with Diego’s help.He reached in and took out the largest necklace, the one he, Diego and Alejandro had determined was the most beautiful and probably destined for the governor’s wife in Monterey.When had he pulled it from the ocean floor?Only two months ago?The dive came back in exquisite vividness.**

**“If the rest is like that, Lee, you could buy the _Seaview_ with that treasure,” Nelson murmured.“That was quite a find.”** ****

**Lee shook his head.“No, not buy _Seaview_ , but fund her.” He carefully laid the necklace back down on top of the small pile of jewelry, gold and silver coins, and ingots.He turned to his mentor.“You risked everything to find me and I know you are still dancing with the bigwigs over the ‘lost missions’ of the past few months.”He turned back to Marguerita.“Would you be able to draw up something bestowing this to the Institute?” he added, gesturing to the box.** ****

**She nodded.“Yes, with the dividends of any sale of the artifacts going into an account for you, Lee.”When he began to protest, she added.“You really should have something from this, and dividends would be enough to take care of anything you might need in the future.”** ****

**“What I need is to get back to work,” Lee growled good-naturedly.** ****

**The admiral and Chip were staring at him in shock.Nelson shook his head.“No, Lee, please do not feel obligated to give this away….”** ****

**“Obligated?” Lee countered, deadly serious.“Admiral, there is no obligation.This is what I want to do.I don’t need this, or the attendant headaches that would come of owning this much wealth.I have what I want, need and desire.I want the Institute to have the revenues.I want you to be able to do some of the private research you have wanted to do for years, but haven’t been able to because of obligations to the government, think tanks and private organizations.I want this to be under your direct auspices.”He sat back and folded his arms over his chest, his look defying the admiral to come up with any more argument.**

**The admiral said nothing for several moments, only studied his captain intently.“If you’re sure, Lee….”**

**“I’m sure.”** ****

**“It will be put to good use.”** ****

**Lee suddenly laughed.“I know it will be.I’ll be there to share the results, thanks to you.”**

**Tish returned with a sheathed sword and handed it to him.Lee turned to the lawyer.“This was Diego’s sword.He left it with me when _Seaview_ found me back in the past.”**

**Marguerita took it and gazed at it in rapture, pulling the sword out part way.“We have one at home identical to this.”She looked back up at him.“This is incredible.I will be happy to make all the arrangements for the transfer of the . . . funds.”** ****

**Lee picked up the cup of coffee that had sat neglected when Tish had given it to him after he and Chip had arrived.He held it up.“To _Seaview_ and to all who serve her.”Everyone raised his or her cups.“And to Diego de la Vega.Vaya con Dios, mi amigo.”Again a heartfelt salute.“ _Thank you, Diego_ ,” he added mentally. _I should have known that Zorro could make anything happen, even more than a century and a half later._**  
  
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